Osteoarthritis beginning with inflammation. Definitions and correlations.

A syndrome of acute onset of inflammation over interphalangeal joints heralding deforming osteoarthritis may be intermediate between degenerative and rheumatoid joint diseases. The syndrome appears predominantly in women of menopausal age and is remarkably symmetrical. In a prospective study of 170 propositi, later changes more characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis than of generalized or erosive osteoarthritis developed in 15.3%.