Table 1

Disease activity, imaging and histopathology baseline and 6 months

	ERA group				Control group*
	Visit Baseline	Visit 3months	Visit 6months	P value†	Baseline	P value‡
N	20	19	20		16
DAS28CRP, mean (SD)	5.2 (1.0)	2.9 (1.2)	2.7 (1.1)	<0.001
CRP, mean (SD)	20.4 (19.8)	12.0 (13.7)	8.7 (12.8)	0.01	1.8 (2.3)	<0.001
Wrist Larsen score, mean (SD)	0.3 (0.7)		0.3 (0.8)	0.91	0.0 (0.0)	0.09
US EULAR-OMERACT score
Radiocarpal intercarpal joints combined score (0–3)	2.1 (0.8)	1.9 (0.7)	1.6 (0.6)	0.07
SH score (0–3)	1.9 (0.8)	1.9 (0.7)	1.6 (0.6)	0.17
CD score (0–3)	1.7 (1.0)	1.2 (0.9)	1.0 (0.7)	0.001
MRI RAMRIS score
Radiocarpal joint
Synovitis (0–3)§	1.1 (0.9)		0.8 (0.5)	0.02	0.3 (0.5)	0.003
Bone erosions (0–10)	0.2 (0.4)		0.1 (0.4)	1.00	0.0 (0.0)	0.08
Bone oedema (0–3)	0.1 (0.3)		0.1 (0.2)	0.31	0.00 (0.00)	0.16
Synovial biopsy Krenn score
Lining cell layer, mean (SD)	2.1 (0.8)		1.8 (0.7)	0.19	1.6 (0.9)	0.09
Stromal activation, mean (SD)	2.1 (0.6)		1.6 (0.6)	0.02	1.4 (0.6)	0.002
Infiltrates, mean (SD)	1.9 (0.7)		1.6 (0.8)	0.27	1.3 (0.6)	0.02
Total score, mean (SD)	6.0 (1.5)		5.0 (1.5)	0.01	4.2 (1.7)	0.002
Specific markers
CD20, mean (SD)	1.2 (1.1)		0.8 (09)	0.06	0.3 (0.5)	0.001
CD3, mean (SD)	2.0 (1.2)		1.9 (0.9)	0.70	0.7 (0.7)	<0.001
CD68, mean (SD)	2.8 (0.9)		2.4 (0.8)	0.19	1.6 (0.8)	<0.001
CD138, mean (SD)	1.3 (1.2)		1.1 (0.9)	0.45	0.3 (0.6)	0.002
LRA group
DAS28CRP, mean (SD)	4.3 (0.6)	3.2 (1.0)	2.6 (1.1)	<0.001
CRP, mean (SD)	15.6 (18.9)	10.3 (11.4)	10.3 (16.3)	0.08	1.8 (2.2)	0.002
Wrist Larsen score, mean (SD)	3.7 (5.5)		3.7 (5.6)	0.49	0.0 (0.0)	0.006
US EULAR-OMERACT score
Radiocarpal intercarpal joints combined score (0–3)	2.3 (0.8)	2.1 (0.9)	1.9 (0.8)	0.17
SH (0–3)	2.1 (0.8)	2.0 (0.9)	1.9 (0.8)	0.24
CD (0–3)	2.0 (1.0)	1.6 (1.0)	1.3 (1.1)	0.02
MRI RAMRIS score
Radiocarpal joint
Synovitis (0–3)	2.0 (1.2)				0.3 (0.5)	<0.001
Bone erosions (0–10)	1.2 (1.3)				0.0 (0.0)	<0.001
Bone oedema (0–3)	0.3 (0.7)				0.0 (0.0)	0.08
Synovial biopsy Krenn score
Lining cell layer, mean (SD)	2.3 (0.8)		2.1 (0.8)	0.24	1.6 (0.9)	0.01
Stromal activation, mean (SD)	2.2 (0.8)		1.9 (0.7)	0.27	1.4 (0.6)	0.003
Infiltrates, mean (SD)	2.2 (0.7)		2.2 (0.5)	0.77	1.3 (0.6)	<0.001
Total score, mean (SD)	6.8 (1.9)		6.1 (1.6)	0.17	4.2 (1.7)	<0.001
Specific markers
CD20, mean (SD)	1.8 (1.5)		1.5 (1.2)	0.40	0.3 (0.5)	<0.001
CD3, mean (SD)	2.5 (1.2)		2.2 (1.0)	0.48	0.8 (0.7)	<0.001
CD68, mean (SD)	3.0 (0.7)		2.8 (0.8)	0.39	1.6 (0.8)	<0.001
CD138, mean (SD)	2.1 (1.2)		2.0 (1.3)	0.74	0.3 (0.6)	<0.001

Significant p values in bold.
*Six patients in control group had MRI without contrast.
†Test for trend.
‡P value. The same control group values versus, respectively, ERA and LRA baseline.
§One in ERA group, no MRI due to claustrophobia.
CD, colour Doppler; CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS28CRP, disease activity score in 28 joints with CRP level included; ERA, early rheumatoid arthritis; LRA, long-standing rheumatoid arthritis; SH, synovial hypertrophy.