Bone Evaluation by Microdensitometry in Patients with Juvenile Reumatoid Arthritis

To evaluate the hand bones of patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) objectively, 30 patients with JRA were examined by microdensitometric analysis (MD). The results were as follows: 1) Among the nine indices of MD, %σGS/D, reflecting the bone mineral content, correlated well with the stage of JRA determined by roentgenological findings of the hand bones. 2) %σGS/D showed remarkable improvement after the remission of JRA. 3) Rheumatoid factor (RF) positive JRA showed statistically low %σGS/D compared with RF negative JRA, and kept a low %σGS/D for a long period from the onset in contrast to RF negative JRA. 4) %σGS/D in the patients with JRA treated with steroid decreased more rapidly according to the dosage of steroid than in the patients with SLE. Based on these results it is suggested that MD seems to be useful in evaluating the bone objectively, and not only steroid but also RF seems to be a factor leading to bone destruction in patients with JRA.