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“To evaluate the clinical courses and outcomes of patients with monoarthritis and to investigate the predictive factors of clinical outcomes. A retrospective analysis was performed of 171 patients with chronic monoarthritis at a single tertiary hospital between January 2001 and January 2011. Baseline characteristics, radiographic findings and the clinical course were selleck compound reviewed. The most commonly involved joints were the knees (24.0%), followed by the wrists (22.8%) and ankles (18.7%). A final diagnosis

was established in 74 (43.3%) patients. Thirty-one (18.1%) patients were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 23 (13.5%) with peripheral spondyloarthritis (SpA), and 19 (11.1%) with Behçet’s disease (BD). Among 108 patients who were initially undiagnosed, 85 (78.7%) patients remained with undiagnosed monoarthritis, with relatively

shorter symptom durations and requiring less treatment. The initially involved joint was a predictive factor for the final diagnosis: the wrist joint for RA (odds ratio [OR] 11.58, P < 0.001), the ankle joint for SpA (OR 6.19, P < 0.001), and the knee joint for BD (OR 3.43, P = 0.014). Bony erosion at baseline was associated with progression to oligo- or polyarthritis (OR 2.88, P = 0.030) and with radiographic progression. selleck chemicals In patients presenting with monoarthritis, a final diagnosis was established in less than CYTH4 half of the patients, and a majority of undiagnosed patients showed benign clinical courses. The initially involved joint and the presence of erosion at baseline were predictors of the final diagnosis and of clinical outcomes.

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“Nonspecific chronic synovitis of the knee joint was reported by Pollard in 1962 and its pathogenesis is considered to be a physiological reaction to intra-articular disease. In this study, we evaluated the pathological findings of the synovium of early osteoarthritis (OA)-affected knee joints with hydrarthrosis in comparison to typical OA. Synovial tissues were harvested from early OA knee joints with hydrarthrosis graded 0–2 according to the Kellgren and Lawrence classification and examined by histopathology. The synovial tissues showed proliferation of fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) as if in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and were immunohistochemically positive for matrix metalloproteinase 3, tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin 6. The histology of RA is characterized by marked proliferation of FLS. In this study, the synovial tissues of early OA with hydrarthrosis showed moderate FLS proliferation. They also expressed the cytokines that are detected in the synovial tissues of RA. We suggest long-term follow-up is needed because early OA with hydrarthrosis might progress to overt RA.