Introduction
Materials and methods
Patients
Synovial fluid cytospin preparation and assessment
Statistical analysis
Results
Patients
Characteristic | RA | Non-RA |
P
| |
---|---|---|---|---|
Persistent | Resolving | |||
n
| 17 | 17 | 47 | |
Female (n [%]) | 9 (53%) | 6 (35%) | 24 (51%) | NSa |
Age, years (median [IQR]) | 64 (58–73) | 37 (25–58) | 41 (29–64) | RA versus non-RA persistent: P = 0.001b; RA versus resolving: P = 0.0008b |
Symptom duration (weeks; median [IQR]) | 7 (5–9) | 7 (2.5–11.5) | 3 (1–5) | RA versus resolving P < 0.0001b |
CRP (median [IQR]) | 32 (18–53) | 62 (31–95) | 32 (10–96) | NSb |
RF positive (n [%]) | 13 (76%) | 1 (6%) | 5 (10.6%) |
Synovial fluid leukocyte apoptosis at clinical presentation
Longitudinal assessment of synovial fluid leukocyte apoptosis
RA | Non-RA | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Persistent | Resolving | |||||
Neutrophil | Lymphocyte | Neutrophil | Lymphocyte | Neutrophil | Lymphocyte | |
Number of patients from whom analyzable follow-up samples were available | 10 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 |
Number of analyzable follow-up samples | 16 | 12 | 25 | 26 | 17 | 21 |
Number of weeks after symptom onset when follow-up samples were collected (median [IQR]) | 19 (15–38) | 18 (13–39) | 26 (14–46) | 28 (14–46) | 13 (9–28) | 14 (9–22) |
Number of patients in whom more apoptosis was seen in a follow-up sample than in the initial sample | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
Treatment received prior to follow-up joint aspiration where more apoptosis was seen at follow-up | ||||||
Nil | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Parenteral steroid | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
DMARD | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Parenteral steroid + DMARD | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Treatment received prior to follow-up joint aspiration where no more apoptosis was seen at follow-up | ||||||
Nil | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Parenteral steroid | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
DMARD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Parenteral steroid + DMARD | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |