Son CN, Cai K, Stewart S, Ferrier J, Billington K, Tsai YJJ, Bardin T, Horne A, Stamp LK, Doyle A, Dalbeth N. Development of a radiographic scoring system for new bone formation in gout.
Arthritis Res Ther 2021;
23:296. [PMID:
34876237 PMCID:
PMC8653557 DOI:
10.1186/s13075-021-02683-9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Features of new bone formation (NBF) are common in tophaceous gout. The aim of this project was to develop a plain radiographic scoring system for NBF in gout.
Methods
Informed by a literature review, scoring systems were tested in 80 individual 1st and 5th metatarsophalangeal joints. Plain radiography scores were compared with computed tomography (CT) measurements of the same joints. The best-performing scoring system was then tested in paired sets of hand and foot radiographs obtained over 2 years from an additional 25 patients. Inter-reader reproducibility was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). NBF scores were correlated with plain radiographic erosion scores (using the gout-modified Sharp-van der Heijde system).
Results
Following a series of structured reviews of plain radiographs and scoring exercises, a semi-quantitative scoring system for sclerosis and spur was developed. In the individual joint analysis, the inter-observer ICC (95% CI) was 0.84 (0.76–0.89) for sclerosis and 0.81 (0.72–0.87) for spur. Plain radiographic sclerosis and spur scores correlated with CT measurements (r = 0.65–0.74, P < 0.001 for all analyses). For the hand and foot radiograph sets, the inter-observer ICC (95% CI) was 0.94 (0.90–0.98) for sclerosis score and 0.76 (0.65–0.84) for spur score. Sclerosis and spur scores correlated highly with plain radiographic erosion scores (r = 0.87 and 0.71 respectively), but not with change in erosion scores over 2 years (r = −0.04–0.15).
Conclusion
A semi-quantitative plain radiographic scoring method for the assessment of NBF in gout is feasible, valid, and reproducible. This method may facilitate consistent measurement of NBF in gout.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13075-021-02683-9.
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