RMD OpenPub Date : 2026-10-14DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2026-006817
Elizabeth Clay, Chrissy Bolton, Annie Hackland, Charlotte G Smith, Klaudia Kupiec, James Kelly, Samantha Chippington, Zishan Sheikh, Charlene Foley, Patricia Reis Nisa, Søren Lomholt, Vicky Alexiou, Inga Turtsevich, Chadwick Pils, Sugrah Sultan, Neelam Khan, Manigandan Thyagarajan, Georgiana Neag, Christopher B Mahony, Holly R Adams, Catherine Cotter, Miriam Sadler, Huong Nguyen, Ece Beren Barklam, Luke J Jones, Paulynn Suyin Chin, Samuel Kemble, Lucy-Jayne Marsh, Penny Davis, Sunit Davda, Sandrine Compeyrot-Lacassagne, Fahim Patel, Elizabeth C Rosser, Megan M Hanlon, Will Coles, Edward Dicarlo, Ellen Gravallese, Andrew Filer, Eslam Al-Abadi, Lucy R Wedderburn, Adam P Croft
{"title":"Minimally invasive, ultrasound-guided synovial tissue biopsies are well-tolerated, safe and feasible in children and young people with inflammatory arthritis.","authors":"Elizabeth Clay, Chrissy Bolton, Annie Hackland, Charlotte G Smith, Klaudia Kupiec, James Kelly, Samantha Chippington, Zishan Sheikh, Charlene Foley, Patricia Reis Nisa, Søren Lomholt, Vicky Alexiou, Inga Turtsevich, Chadwick Pils, Sugrah Sultan, Neelam Khan, Manigandan Thyagarajan, Georgiana Neag, Christopher B Mahony, Holly R Adams, Catherine Cotter, Miriam Sadler, Huong Nguyen, Ece Beren Barklam, Luke J Jones, Paulynn Suyin Chin, Samuel Kemble, Lucy-Jayne Marsh, Penny Davis, Sunit Davda, Sandrine Compeyrot-Lacassagne, Fahim Patel, Elizabeth C Rosser, Megan M Hanlon, Will Coles, Edward Dicarlo, Ellen Gravallese, Andrew Filer, Eslam Al-Abadi, Lucy R Wedderburn, Adam P Croft","doi":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-006817","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2026-006817","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21396,"journal":{"name":"RMD Open","volume":"12 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149184189","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RMD OpenPub Date : 2026-10-14DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007126
De Groot P, Tchetverikov I, Bekelaar J W R, Koc G H, Snoeck Henkemans S V J, Vis M, Kok M R, Bos R, Bijsterbosch J, van der Kaap J H, Kok P, Visser K, Korswagen L A, van Oosterhout M, Foolen J, Luime J J
{"title":"Beyond disease activity: patient-reported impact of disease states in psoriatic arthritis using PsAID-12 time-independent clustering.","authors":"De Groot P, Tchetverikov I, Bekelaar J W R, Koc G H, Snoeck Henkemans S V J, Vis M, Kok M R, Bos R, Bijsterbosch J, van der Kaap J H, Kok P, Visser K, Korswagen L A, van Oosterhout M, Foolen J, Luime J J","doi":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007126","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007126","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21396,"journal":{"name":"RMD Open","volume":"12 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149184215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RMD OpenPub Date : 2026-10-14DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007064
Caroline Fougman McCarthy, Martin Björklund, Kristina Hörnberg, Magnus Peterson, Tomas Weitoft, Björn Sundström
{"title":"Associations of patient-reported outcome measures with impaired mobility and elevated C reactive protein in axial spondyloarthritis: a cross-sectional study.","authors":"Caroline Fougman McCarthy, Martin Björklund, Kristina Hörnberg, Magnus Peterson, Tomas Weitoft, Björn Sundström","doi":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007064","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21396,"journal":{"name":"RMD Open","volume":"12 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2026-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149184138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RMD OpenPub Date : 2026-10-09DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2026-006961
Victoria Konzett, Elvis Hysa, Milena Bond, Louise Falzon, Kornelis S M van der Geest, Sebastian E Sattui, Christian Dejaco, Sofia Ramiro
{"title":"Imaging for diagnosis, monitoring and outcome prediction in polymyalgia rheumatica: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis informing an international task force.","authors":"Victoria Konzett, Elvis Hysa, Milena Bond, Louise Falzon, Kornelis S M van der Geest, Sebastian E Sattui, Christian Dejaco, Sofia Ramiro","doi":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-006961","DOIUrl":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-006961","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21396,"journal":{"name":"RMD Open","volume":"12 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2026-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13656162/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149170474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RMD OpenPub Date : 2026-10-01DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007143
Marina Jiménez-Martínez, Tineke A De Jong, Miranda Houtman, Johanna F Semmelink, Noam Zelcer, Marleen G H van de Sande, Wendy Dankers, Lisa G M van Baarsen
{"title":"Early features of cellular ageing impair differentiation capacity in human lymph node fibroblasts prior to rheumatoid arthritis onset.","authors":"Marina Jiménez-Martínez, Tineke A De Jong, Miranda Houtman, Johanna F Semmelink, Noam Zelcer, Marleen G H van de Sande, Wendy Dankers, Lisa G M van Baarsen","doi":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007143","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Cellular ageing of the immune system has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA onset is preceded by a preclinical phase of systemic autoimmunity without overt tissue inflammation, allowing the investigation of predisease cellular dysfunction in at-risk individuals. Lymph nodes (LNs) are crucial for (auto)antibody development, with LN fibroblasts playing a key role in regulating immune homeostasis. Here, we investigated age-associated alterations in LN fibroblast differentiation capacity during the at-risk and established stages of RA.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Primary LN fibroblasts were isolated from inguinal LN core biopsies obtained from healthy controls, at-risk individuals and patients with RA. Adipogenic differentiation assays served as a functional readout of cellular plasticity and bulk RNA sequencing was used to evaluate ageing-related transcriptional changes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>LN fibroblasts from at-risk individuals and patients with RA exhibited reduced adipogenic capacity, reflected by fewer lipid droplet-positive cells on differentiation. Transcriptomic analysis revealed downregulation of cell cycle, DNA repair and differentiation pathways. These fibroblasts also failed to upregulate the cell cycle switch <i>G0S2</i> on stimulation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Together, these findings indicate a disrupted coordination between cell cycle processes and differentiation in at-risk and RA LN fibroblasts, consistent with features of cellular ageing. Notably, these alterations were already present in at-risk individuals prior to clinical disease onset, suggesting that reduced fibroblast fitness may contribute to impaired LN tissue homeostasis in disease-prone individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":21396,"journal":{"name":"RMD Open","volume":"12 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149114675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RMD OpenPub Date : 2026-10-01DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007295
Michele di Lernia, Konstantin Louis Thuere, Sebastian E Sattui, Kornelis S M van der Geest, Frank Buttgereit, Christian Dejaco
{"title":"Study on the implementation of the 2015 EULAR/ACR recommendations for polymyalgia rheumatica in clinical practice.","authors":"Michele di Lernia, Konstantin Louis Thuere, Sebastian E Sattui, Kornelis S M van der Geest, Frank Buttgereit, Christian Dejaco","doi":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007295","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007295","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To study the implementation of the 2015 European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) management recommendations for polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) among rheumatologists and general practitioners (GPs).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An online survey (Survey Monkey) comprising 28 questions was distributed among members of the EULAR Study Group on PMR and giant cell arteritis (n=375). Each member was asked to invite at least one GP (snowball principle) with experience in PMR to participate. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics; differences were tested using Fisher's exact test.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There were 308 respondents from 37 countries including data from 211 rheumatologists and 73 GPs. Adherence to the 2015 EULAR/ACR recommendations was higher among rheumatologists (83%) than GPs (35%). Rheumatologists (96%) prescribed glucocorticoids more frequently at dosages within the recommended range than GPs (84%). Concerning tapering, a similar proportion of rheumatologists (83%) and GPs (72%) reached the suggested 10 mg prednisone equivalent after 4-8 weeks. Almost all rheumatologists used methotrexate as a glucocorticoid-sparing agent (95%) as compared with only 26% of GPs. Similarly, 70% of rheumatologists, but only 2% of GPs, had experience with interleukin-6 receptor inhibitors for PMR. For follow-up, more rheumatologists preferred scheduled (as opposed to on demand) visits than GPs (99% vs 82%), while more GPs than rheumatologists (47% vs 31%) planned a short follow-up interval (4-8 weeks) in the first year of disease.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Implementation of the EULAR/ACR recommendation for the management of PMR remains incomplete, particularly among GPs. Future updates should incorporate projects to foster diffusion and implementation of the recommendations among all professionals managing this disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":21396,"journal":{"name":"RMD Open","volume":"12 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13629900/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149114617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RMD OpenPub Date : 2026-09-28DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007195
Qihan Wu, Sze-Lok Lau, Isaac T Cheng, Tin Yuet Chan, James Griffith, Yan Kitty Kwok, Jack Jw Lee, Ka Lai Violet Lee, Ling Qin, Vivian Hung, Chun Kwok Wong, Cheuk Wan Isaac Yim, King Yee Shirley Ying, Wei-Chuan Yu, Ho So, Lai-Shan Tam
{"title":"Partial bone erosion repair is independently associated with functional improvement in early rheumatoid arthritis: a 2-year prospective high-resolution peripheral quantitative CT (HR-pQCT) longitudinal study.","authors":"Qihan Wu, Sze-Lok Lau, Isaac T Cheng, Tin Yuet Chan, James Griffith, Yan Kitty Kwok, Jack Jw Lee, Ka Lai Violet Lee, Ling Qin, Vivian Hung, Chun Kwok Wong, Cheuk Wan Isaac Yim, King Yee Shirley Ying, Wei-Chuan Yu, Ho So, Lai-Shan Tam","doi":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007195","DOIUrl":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007195","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To determine whether change in bone erosion volume detected by high-resolution peripheral quantitative CT (HR-pQCT) is independently associated with functional outcome in early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this prospective study, 101 patients with ERA received 2-year tight-control treatment aiming at Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI) remission (SDAI ≤3.3). HR-pQCT of the second to fourth metacarpophalangeal joints was performed at baseline and at month 24 to quantify erosion parameters. Partial erosion repair was defined as a reduction of at least one erosion count or a decrease in total erosion volume exceeding the least significant change; progression was defined conversely. Functional status was assessed using the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After 2 years, disease activity and HAQ-DI improved significantly (all p<0.001) in paired analyses (n=98). Sixteen (16.3%) patients showed partial erosion repair and 38 (38.8%) erosion progression. In the partial erosion repair group, reduction in total erosion volume correlated strongly with HAQ-DI improvement (ρ=0.719, p=0.003). This association remained significant in linear regression analyses (β=0.607, p=0.003) independent of the contribution from change in SDAI (β=0.453, p=0.018). By contrast, among erosion progressors, change in HAQ-DI was primarily driven by improvement in SDAI (β=0.755, p<0.001). Baseline swollen joint count was associated with erosion progression in univariate analysis (OR 1.177, 95% CI 1.026 to 1.349, p=0.020) and after adjustment for sex (OR 1.171, 95% CI 1.019 to 1.346, p=0.026).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>HR-pQCT-detected partial repair of bone erosion was independently associated with functional improvement beyond inflammation control.</p>","PeriodicalId":21396,"journal":{"name":"RMD Open","volume":"12 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13629899/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149075964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RMD OpenPub Date : 2026-09-25DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007113
Juan Molina-Collada, Chamaida Plasencia-Rodriguez, Verónica García-García, Iván Del Bosque, Marina Pavía-Pascual, Beatriz Villapún Burgoa, Camille Bourgeois-Avella, Montserrat Roig-Kim, Javier Narváez, Isabel Hernández-Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Saez, Cristina Almeida, Alicia García-Dorta, Esther Uriarte Itzazelaia, Daniel Campos, Raquel Dos-Santos, Eva Pérez-Pampín, Francisco Gabriel Jiménez Núñez, Elisa Fernández-Fernández, Alejandro Villalba, Núria Bou, Carolina Pérez-García, Olga Rusinovich Lovgach, Alejandro Martínez Rodado, Roxana González, Francisco José Cepas-Gutiérrez, Otto Olivas-Vergara, Minerva Berrocal, Nuria Molina, Iñigo González Mazón, Esther Toledano, Marina Tortosa-Cabañas, Perceval Vellosillo González, Pablo González Navarro, Victoria Navarro-Compán, Loreto Carmona
{"title":"Risk of new primary cancer, locoregional progression or metastasis associated with bDMARDs and tsDMARDs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and prior cancer: insights from the ARCA registry.","authors":"Juan Molina-Collada, Chamaida Plasencia-Rodriguez, Verónica García-García, Iván Del Bosque, Marina Pavía-Pascual, Beatriz Villapún Burgoa, Camille Bourgeois-Avella, Montserrat Roig-Kim, Javier Narváez, Isabel Hernández-Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Saez, Cristina Almeida, Alicia García-Dorta, Esther Uriarte Itzazelaia, Daniel Campos, Raquel Dos-Santos, Eva Pérez-Pampín, Francisco Gabriel Jiménez Núñez, Elisa Fernández-Fernández, Alejandro Villalba, Núria Bou, Carolina Pérez-García, Olga Rusinovich Lovgach, Alejandro Martínez Rodado, Roxana González, Francisco José Cepas-Gutiérrez, Otto Olivas-Vergara, Minerva Berrocal, Nuria Molina, Iñigo González Mazón, Esther Toledano, Marina Tortosa-Cabañas, Perceval Vellosillo González, Pablo González Navarro, Victoria Navarro-Compán, Loreto Carmona","doi":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007113","DOIUrl":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007113","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To compare the risk of new primary cancer, locoregional progression or metastasis across different disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) strategies in real-world patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and prior cancer.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The ARthritis and CAncer registry is a nationwide retrospective study, including patients with RA and prior cancer. Collected variables included RA characteristics, DMARDs received, cancer type and demographics. The primary outcome was the occurrence of new primary cancer, locoregional progression or metastasis during follow-up. Adjusted Cox regression models were used to estimate HRs for cancer events. Treatment strategies involving conventional synthetic (cs)DMARDs served as the reference for comparison.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 728 patients with RA, 80 cases of cancer were identified over a cumulative exposure period of 11 022 years, with an overall cancer incidence rate of 7.3 (95% CI 5.8 to 9.0) per 1000 person-years. Adjusted HRs for all cancers (95% CI) compared with csDMARDs were 0.94 (0.73 to 1.21) for tumour necrosis factor inhibitors, 1.03 (0.61 to 1.74) for IL6-inhibitors, 0.81 (0.46 to 1.42) for CD20 inhibitors, 0.6 (0.26 to 1.4) for targeted synthetic DMARDs and 0.74 (0.41 to 1.34) for cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4-analogue. No differences in cancer risk were observed after adjusting for duration of exposure, line of advanced therapy or prior cancer status.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This real-world data did not identify differences in the risk of new primary cancer, locoregional progression or metastasis across different DMARDs strategies in patients with RA and prior cancer.</p>","PeriodicalId":21396,"journal":{"name":"RMD Open","volume":"12 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13629865/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149064286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RMD OpenPub Date : 2026-09-25DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2026-006932
Lukas-Casper Thielmann, Christian Lottspeich, Lilly Juliane Undine Reik, Tobias Wirthmiller, Andreas Nützel, Holger Schneider, Anja Löw, Teresa Henke, Ilaria Prearo, Marc J Mackert, Siegfried Priglinger, Heiko Schulz, Christoph Walz, Elisabeth Haas-Lützenberger, Christina Gebhardt, Claus-Jürgen Bauer, Valentin S Schäfer, Hendrik Schulze-Koops, Michael Czihal
{"title":"Comparison of four clinical risk prediction models for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis: results from the ongoing PREDICT-GCA study.","authors":"Lukas-Casper Thielmann, Christian Lottspeich, Lilly Juliane Undine Reik, Tobias Wirthmiller, Andreas Nützel, Holger Schneider, Anja Löw, Teresa Henke, Ilaria Prearo, Marc J Mackert, Siegfried Priglinger, Heiko Schulz, Christoph Walz, Elisabeth Haas-Lützenberger, Christina Gebhardt, Claus-Jürgen Bauer, Valentin S Schäfer, Hendrik Schulze-Koops, Michael Czihal","doi":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-006932","DOIUrl":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-006932","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The potential role of structured clinical pretest probability assessment in the diagnostic workup of giant cell arteritis (GCA) is not well defined.</p><p><strong>Patients and methods: </strong>We applied four clinical prediction rules to patients enrolled in the ongoing prospective PREDICT GCA study. All patients underwent temporal artery biopsy in addition to the detailed clinical and sonographic workup. The final diagnosis was based on the 6 months follow-up and ambiguous cases were judged by an independent expert panel. The diagnostic accuracy of the four models was determined using 2×2 contingency tables and receiver operating characteristic analysis. Patients with and without discordant results in different scoring systems were compared using univariate significance tests.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Seventy patients were analysed. The highest diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve (AUC) 0.84) and the highest negative predictive value (NPV, 86.7%) were provided by the Ing <i>et al</i> model. The other scores performed worse, with AUC/NPV of 0.74/78.6% (Southend GCA Probability Score), 0.75/73.7% (Bhavsar-Khalidi Score) and 0.70/77.8% (PREDICT score). In 37.5% of patients, clinically significant discordances in categorisation (classification as both low and non-low risk by different scoring systems) were evident. These patients less frequently presented with clinical symptoms and signs of cranial GCA (all p<0.01), but the rate of visual impairment did not differ from that in patients with consistent risk estimation results.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Clinical prediction models for the diagnosis of GCA differ in their diagnostic accuracy. Clinically relevant discordances of individual risk prediction are common.</p><p><strong>Trial registration number: </strong>DRKS00031293.</p>","PeriodicalId":21396,"journal":{"name":"RMD Open","volume":"12 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13629985/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149064323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RMD OpenPub Date : 2026-09-25DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007207
Dafne Capelusnik, Clementina López-Medina, Casper Webers, Augusta Ortolan, Désirée van der Heijde, Robert Landewé, Philip J Mease, Anna Molto, Sofia Ramiro
{"title":"Comparative analysis of instruments measuring peripheral arthritis activity in Spondyloarthritis: a measurement properties study in 13 RCTs.","authors":"Dafne Capelusnik, Clementina López-Medina, Casper Webers, Augusta Ortolan, Désirée van der Heijde, Robert Landewé, Philip J Mease, Anna Molto, Sofia Ramiro","doi":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007207","DOIUrl":"10.1136/rmdopen-2026-007207","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Using randomised controlled trial (RCT) data, this study evaluated the measurement properties of selected instruments to assess peripheral arthritis in axial and peripheral spondyloarthritis (axSpA/pSpA) and to inform selection of the best-performing instrument.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Eligible studies were RCTs in axSpA or pSpA with individual patient data available to calculate Patient Global Assessment (PGA), swollen/tender joint counts (44 or 66/68 joints), C reactive protein, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Axial Spondyloarthritis Disease Activity Score, Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis/Disease Activity in Psoriatic Arthritis with 44 joint count (DAPSA44) and 44-joint Disease Activity Score at baseline and timing of primary endpoint. In axSpA, analyses were restricted to patients with peripheral arthritis at baseline. Measurement properties assessed included construct validity, test-retest reliability, longitudinal construct validity, trial discrimination and thresholds of meaning. Risk of bias (RoB) was evaluated and evidence was synthesised using Outcome Measures in Rheumatology-based GREEN/AMBER/RED ratings (low/uncertain/high RoB and good/adequate/poor performance, respectively).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>13 RCTs were included (10 axSpA and 3 pSpA). In axSpA trials, 25-51% of patients had peripheral arthritis at baseline (median swollen joint count of 44 joints (SJC44) across studies: 2-3); in pSpA trials, median SJC44 ranged 2-5. In axSpA, construct validity and thresholds of meaning were rated AMBER/GREEN for all instruments, while test-retest reliability was RED only for PGA. Responsiveness was consistently GREEN. Clinical trial discrimination was RED for single-item instruments but consistently GREEN for composite scores. In pSpA, most instruments showed AMBER/GREEN performance, although SJC44 demonstrated RED discrimination.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study provides the first comprehensive, trial-based evaluation of measurement properties for instruments assessing peripheral arthritis activity in axSpA and pSpA. Composite scores, such as BASDAI, ASDAS and DAPSA44, generally demonstrated more robust performance than single-item instruments, expanding the evidence base for the final instrument-selection phase.</p>","PeriodicalId":21396,"journal":{"name":"RMD Open","volume":"12 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13629849/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149064325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}