Erosive osteoarthritis.

Erosive osteoarthritis (EOA) is believed to be a clinically uncommon subset of generalized osteoarthritis (OA) characterized by a clinical course, which is frequently aggressive. The diagnosis of EOA is accepted only for patients meeting American College of Rheumatology clinical criteria for OA of the hand and showing radiographic aspects of articular surface erosions. Conditions to be considered in the differential diagnosis include primarily nodal generalized OA, psoriatic arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. It is possible to find erosive changes resembling EOA in endocrine diseases, microcrystal-induced diseases, chronic renal diseases, autoimmune diseases and others. Despite the absence of a clear etiology, immunogenetic studies are useful in identifying a possible predisposition to developing EOA in some subjects. No definitive therapeutic approach to EOA has been reported. It is reasonable to assume that in the presence of a symptomatic EOA our therapeutic approach should differ from that used for common, nodal, non-EOA.