The purpose of this article is to compare tomosynthesis with radiography and MRI of the wrist and hand for evaluating bone erosion in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Twenty consecutive patients with an established diagnosis of RA and five control patients were included in this study. They underwent radiography, tomosynthesis, and MRI of the bilateral hand and wrist within a week. The mean total dose of radiography and tomosynthesis was 0.13 and 0.25 mGy, respectively. MRI evaluation was performed according to the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Clinical Trials recommendations. Bone erosion on images from the three modalities was independently reviewed by two certificated radiologists with a 4-point scale (0, normal; 1, discrete erosion; 2, < 50% of the joint surface; and 3, ≥ 50% of the joint surface).
The detection rates of bone erosion for radiography, tomosynthesis, and MRI were 26.5%, 36.1%, and 36.7%, respectively. Significantly more bone erosions were revealed with tomosynthesis and MRI than with radiography (p < 0.01). When MRI was used as the reference standard, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 68.1%, 97.5%, and 86.7%, respectively, for radiography and 94.8%, 97.8%, and 96.7%, respectively, for tomosynthesis. Interobserver agreement (kappa value) for bone erosion was good to excellent on tomosynthesis and MRI for all joints (0.65-1.00 and 0.68-1.00, respectively), whereas it was slight to fair on radiography for some carpal bones and bases of metacarpal bones (0.22-0.56).
Tomosynthesis is superior to radiography and almost comparable to MRI for the detection of bone erosion in patients with RA.