Clinical diagnosis of atlanto-axial joint involvement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
10.3760/cma.j.issn.1007-7480.2017.04.005
- VernacularTitle:类风湿关节炎患者寰枢关节受累的临床诊断探讨
- Author:
Meijuan WU
;
Hongxia TAN
;
Weiwei ZHAO
;
Meihong YANG
;
Mingfeng YANG
;
Hongzhi WANG
- Keywords:
Arthritis,rheumatoid;
Atlanto-axial joint;
Tomography,X-ray;
Tomography spiral computed;
Magnetic resonance imaging
- From:
Chinese Journal of Rheumatology
2017;21(4):237-240
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To investigate the clinical manifestations,laboratory tests,and image modalities on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) accompanied with atlanto-axial joint involvement.Methods Sixty-four cases of RA accompanied with cervical vertebra involvement were divided into 2groups by lesion location.Twenty-two cases were RA accompanied with atlanto-axial joint involvement,while 42 cases were RA with cervical vertebra other than atlanto-axial joint involvement.The age,course,clinical manifestations and the lab results were compared between the two groups by t test,Chi-square test and Fisher's exact probability.The X-ray,CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for cervical vertebra were analyzed in RA with atlanto-axial joint involvement.Results Compared with non-atlantoaxial cervical group,the disease course [(15±10) years vs (8±9) years,t=3.030,P=0.004],upper cervical vertebra pain (73％ vs 7％,x2=29.75,P＜0.01),lower cervical vertebra pain (9％ vs 40％,x2=6.813,P=0.009),cervical activity limitation (68％ vs 14％,x2=19.023,P＜0.01),upper cervical vertebra pressing pain (100％ vs 7％,22=52.297,P＜0.01),lower cervical vertebra pressing pain (9％ vs 60％,x 2=15.056,P＜0.01) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) [(73±34) mm/1 h vs (53±37) am/1 h,t=2.039,P=0.046)] were significantly different in atlantoaxial joint lesions group.CT combined with MRI exams had high diagnostic..value in RA with atlanto-axial joint involvement.CT scan had the conformed diagnostic value.Sixteen cases were positive (73％) by MRI scan,while 3 cases (14％) by X-ray.Conclusion Timely CT scan and/or MRI scan for RA patients with neck pain in upper cervical vertebra,long disease course,cervical activity limitation and high ESR are helpful for early diagnosis of atlanto-axial joint involvement.
