Healing of erosive changes in rheumatoid arthritis

R. Rau, G. Herborn, S. Wassenberg 

ABSTRACT
This is an overview over the history and present state of knowledge of radiographic signs of erosion healing. The existence of healing or repair has been confirmed; different observers agree in the identification of healing; it may be identified without knowing the sequence of the films. As healing indicates that inflammation has discontinued for several months in an individual joint, it might represent a good additional outcome measure in RA clinical trials.

Key words
Rheumatoid arthritis, radiographic evaluation, erosion healing, erosion repair, scoring methods, clinical trials.

Please address correspondence to: Rolf Rau, MD, PhD, Rheumatologie, Evangelisches Fachkrankenhaus, Rosenstrasse 2, 40882 Ratingen, Germany.

Clin Exp Rheumatol 2004; 22 (Suppl. 35): S44-S49.
© Copyright Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology 2004.