Radiographic and joint count findings of the hand in rheumatoid arthritis. Related and unrelated findings.

Radiographic and physical joint count findings of the hands and wrists of 148 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were analyzed in a cross-sectional study. Quantitative radiographic scores for joint space narrowing, erosion, and malalignment were correlated highly with joint count scores for limitation of motion and deformity, and were correlated at considerably lower levels with joint swelling scores. Radiographic scores, however, were not correlated at all with joint count tenderness scores. That 2 of the most widely used indices of RA disease activity, radiographic erosion scores and joint count scores for tenderness, were independent of one another at a selected timepoint, should be considered in the design of clinical trials and long-term observation of patients with RA.