The value of individual joints for radiologic assessment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Twenty-seven bilateral joints of 28 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were radiographed and divided into six grades of severity by means of standard reference films. The results indicated that the four lateral metatarsophalangeal joints and the wrists are the most valuable joints for the assessment of rheumatoid arthritis as they show the strongest correlation of involvement with duration, the highest slope value, and the lowest standard deviation of involvement. It was concluded that many currently used methods of radiologic assessment could be improved by evaluating proper radiologic changes in joints representative of rheumatoid arthritis. The need for a new generally accepted classification of severity of rheumatoid arthritis is evident from this paper.