OBJECTIVE: Early arthritis patients referred to an Early Arthritis Clinic (EAC) (n = 233) were compared to 241 patients from the routine out-patient clinic with respect to lag time between the onset of symptoms and the visit to the rheumatologist, clinical presentation and the consistency of the diagnosis after 1 yr. RESULTS: The reduction in median lag time for the EAC patients was at least 3 months. An insidious onset of symptoms was found more often in the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in the routine clinic. In 70% of all cases, a diagnosis could be made after 2 weeks and, if the clinical diagnosis was definite RA, this hardly changed during the following year. Early erosions were seen in 25% of RA patients and were associated with a positive rheumatoid factor (OR 2.08, 95% CI 0.95 4.59). CONCLUSION: An early diagnosis of RA at the EAC is possible and reliable; the high frequency of erosions illustrates the need for early treatment.
OBJECTIVE: Early arthritispatients referred to an Early Arthritis Clinic (EAC) (n = 233) were compared to 241 patients from the routine out-patient clinic with respect to lag time between the onset of symptoms and the visit to the rheumatologist, clinical presentation and the consistency of the diagnosis after 1 yr. RESULTS: The reduction in median lag time for the EAC patients was at least 3 months. An insidious onset of symptoms was found more often in the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in the routine clinic. In 70% of all cases, a diagnosis could be made after 2 weeks and, if the clinical diagnosis was definite RA, this hardly changed during the following year. Early erosions were seen in 25% of RApatients and were associated with a positive rheumatoid factor (OR 2.08, 95% CI 0.95 4.59). CONCLUSION: An early diagnosis of RA at the EAC is possible and reliable; the high frequency of erosions illustrates the need for early treatment.
Authors: M Boers; M T Nurmohamed; C J A Doelman; L R Lard; A C Verhoeven; A E Voskuyl; T W J Huizinga; R J van de Stadt; B A C Dijkmans; Sj van der Linden Journal: Ann Rheum Dis Date: 2003-09 Impact factor: 19.103
Authors: L M Jansen; D van Schaardenburg; I E van Der Horst-Bruinsma; P D Bezemer; B A Dijkmans Journal: Ann Rheum Dis Date: 2000-03 Impact factor: 19.103
Authors: Klaus P Machold; Hans Peter Brezinsek; Burkhard F Leeb; Stephan Pflugbeil; Franz Rainer; Franz Singer; Martin Skoumal; Tanja A Stamm; Manfred Herold Journal: Wien Klin Wochenschr Date: 2008 Impact factor: 1.704
Authors: Uta Arndt; Frank Behrens; Hans Rudolf Ziswiler; Joachim Peter Kaltwasser; Burkhard Möller Journal: Rheumatol Int Date: 2007-06-15 Impact factor: 2.631