Optical tomographic imaging (OTI) was reported to be a novel technique for the early diagnosis and disease activity assessment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study aimed to evaluate the clinical utility of OTI for the detection of hand synovitis of RA patients. Manu-scan was used to perform imaging targeting the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) and metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints in 12 RA patients and three controls. The enrolled RA patients also underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and bone scintigraphy (BS) to provide reference images. Of the 181 joints feasible for OTI analysis, 140 joints (111 in RA patients and 29 in controls, 77.3%) in which the difference of the OTI indices in the two measurements was within 20% were evaluated. The OTI indices in RA joints were significantly lower than those in control joints (p < 0.001). Overall, the OTI indices in RA joints decreased as the synovitis grades on MRI or BS increased. Moreover, OTI was able to discriminate between RA and control joints (AUC = 0.815, 95% CI 0.739-0.891), even if RA joints were normal on physical examination (AUC = 0.714, 95% CI 0.594-0.834). OTI was in good agreement (kappa = 0.60) with MRI for evaluating synovitis in RA patients and showed positive results in 11.4% of clinically asymptomatic joints. OTI in this study showed the potential to be a supplementary imaging modality for the quantification of synovial inflammation in PIP and MCP joints of RA patients. Further large-scale trials are needed to confirm these findings.

中文翻译：

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一种新型的光学层析成像技术在手风湿性关节炎的定量评估中的潜在临床应用。

光学断层成像（OTI）据报道是一种用于风湿性关节炎（RA）的早期诊断和疾病活动评估的新技术。本研究旨在评估OTI在RA患者手部滑膜炎检测中的临床效用。使用Manu-scan对12名RA患者和3名对照进行了针对近端指间（PIP）和掌指（MCP）关节的成像。入选的RA患者还接受了磁共振成像（MRI）和骨闪烁显像（BS）提供参考图像。在可用于OTI分析的181个关节中，评估了140个关节（RA患者为111个，对照组为29个，占77.3％），两次测量中OTI指数的差异在20％以内。RA关节的OTI指数显着低于对照关节（p <0.001）。总体而言，随着MRI或BS上滑膜炎等级的增加，RA关节的OTI指数降低。此外，即使体格检查RA关节正常（AUC = 0.714，95％CI 0.594-0.834），OTI仍能区分RA和对照关节（AUC = 0.815，95％CI 0.739-0.891）。OTI与RA评估滑膜炎的MRI吻合良好（kappa = 0.60），并且在11.4％的临床无症状关节中显示阳性结果。这项研究中的OTI显示出可能是定量RA患者PIP和MCP关节滑膜炎症的一种补充成像方式。需要进一步的大规模试验来证实这些发现。即使RA身体检查正常（AUC = 0.714，95％CI 0.594-0.834），95％CI 0.739-0.891）。OTI与RA评估滑膜炎的MRI吻合良好（kappa = 0.60），并且在11.4％的临床无症状关节中显示阳性结果。这项研究中的OTI显示出可能是定量RA患者PIP和MCP关节滑膜炎症的一种补充成像方式。需要进一步的大规模试验来证实这些发现。即使RA身体检查正常（AUC = 0.714，95％CI 0.594-0.834），95％CI 0.739-0.891）。OTI与RA评估滑膜炎的MRI吻合良好（kappa = 0.60），并且在11.4％的临床无症状关节中显示阳性结果。这项研究中的OTI显示出可能是定量RA患者PIP和MCP关节滑膜炎症的一种补充成像方式。需要进一步的大规模试验来证实这些发现。这项研究中的OTI显示出可能是定量RA患者PIP和MCP关节滑膜炎症的一种补充成像方式。需要进一步的大规模试验来证实这些发现。这项研究中的OTI显示出可能是定量RA患者PIP和MCP关节滑膜炎症的一种补充成像方式。需要进一步的大规模试验来证实这些发现。