OP0123 Mri-Detected Inflammation Is Associated with Functional Disability in Early Arthritis

Background MRI sensitively detects inflammation, but the clinical relevance of MRI-detected inflammation is undetermined in early arthritis. Therefore, this cross-sectional study investigated the association between MRI-detected inflammation of hands and feet and functional disability in early arthritis. Methods 514 early arthritis patients, consecutively included in the Leiden Early Arthritis Clinic, were studied. At baseline, unilateral 1.5T MRI of the wrist, metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and metatarsophalangeal-joints was made and functional disability was measured using the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). MRIs were scored for bone marrow oedema (BME), tenosynovitis and synovitis by two readers. The sum of these three features yielded the total MRI-inflammation score. Linear and non-linear regression analyses were performed with HAQ as dependent variable. Results The total MRI-inflammation score was associated with the HAQ-score (β=0.014, p Conclusions MRI-detected inflammation, and tenosynovitis in particular, is associated with functional disability. This demonstrates the functional relevance of MRI-detected inflammation in early arthritis patients. References df Acknowledgement This work was supported by a Vidi-grant of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the Dutch Arthritis Foundation Disclosure of Interest None declared