• oligoarthritis
• ultrasonography
• prevalence
• subclinical disease

The approach to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has changed substantially in recent years.¹ Firstly, it is now common practice to introduce conventional disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) such as methotrexate, and even targeted biological therapies, within months of the onset of symptoms.² One reason for this change is the growing appreciation that irreversible structural damage can occur very early in the course of inflammatory arthritis.³ Secondly, the establishment of dedicated early arthritis clinics facilitates early referral of patients with recent onset inflammatory arthritis for specialist evaluation and management.⁴ Thirdly, rheumatologists now have access to targeted therapies that greatly reduce the rate of progressive joint damage.^5–7 Finally, it has been established that DMARDs reduces the rate of progressive joint damage most effectively when introduced within 6 months of symptom onset.⁸ In this context, the achievement of a sustained clinical remission in RA, the complete and permanent resolution of synovial inflammation, could become a realistic therapeutic goal. The same should be true of other inflammatory arthropathies.