Value of imaging detected joint inflammation in explaining fatigue in RA at diagnosis and during the disease course: a large MRI study

摘要

Fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is hypothesised to be caused by inflammation. Still ~50% of the variance of fatigue in RA cannot be explained by the Disease Activity Score (DAS), nor by background or psychological factors. Since MRI can detect joint inflammation more sensitively than the clinical joint counts as incorporated in the DAS, we hypothesised that inflammation detected by MRI could aid in explaining fatigue in RA at diagnosis and during the follow-up.