Observational studyArthritis care & research2021
Two-Year Changes in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features and Pain in Thumb Base Osteoarthritis.
Observational study in Arthritis care & research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- The prognosis of pain and function in people with hand and thumb base osteoarthritis: a systematic review.Annals of medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Relationships between diagnostic imaging of first carpometacarpal osteoarthritis and pain, functional status, and disease progression: A systematic review.Osteoarthritis and cartilage · 2024Pooled it
- Osteoarthritis Progression, Pain, and Function in Early Carpometacarpal Osteoarthritis: A Six-Year Longitudinal Study.Journal of hand surgery global online · 2025Article
- Researchers in rheumatology should avoid categorization of continuous predictor variables.BMC medical research methodology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the two-year course of pain and osteoarthritic features on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the thumb base.
methodsPatients in the Hand Osteoarthritis in Secondary Care (HOSTAS) cohort who had received radiographic examination, MRI, and clinical examination of the right thumb base at baseline and who had a 2-year follow-up period were studied. Pain on palpation of the thumb base was assessed on a 0-3 scale. MRIs were analyzed with the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) thumb base osteoarthritis MRI scoring system for synovitis, bone marrow lesions (BMLs), subchondral bone defects, cartilage space loss, osteophytes, and subluxation. Radiographs were assessed for osteophytes and joint space narrowing. We studied the associations of changes in synovitis and BMLs with changes in pain using a logistic regression model adjusted for radiographic damage, with values expressed as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).
resultsOf 165 patients, 83% were women and the mean age was 60.7 years. At baseline, 65 patients had thumb base pain. At 2-year follow-up, pain had decreased in 32 patients and increased in 33 patients. MRI features remained stable in most patients. Structural MRI features generally deteriorated, while synovitis and BMLs improved in some individuals and deteriorated in others. Change in radiographic osteophytes rarely occurred (n = 10). Increased synovitis (odds ratio [OR] 3.4 [95% CI 1.3-9.3]) and increased BMLs (OR 5.1 [95% CI 2.1-12.6]) were associated with increased pain. Decreased BMLs appeared to be associated with decreased pain (OR 2.7 [95% CI 0.8-8.9]), and reductions in synovitis occurred too infrequently to calculate associations.
conclusionOver 2 years, thumb base pain fluctuated, while MRI features changed in a minority of patients with hand osteoarthritis. Changes in synovitis and BMLs were associated with changes in pain on palpation, even after adjustment for radiographic damage.
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