Clinical data of the patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (early RA; disease duration of less than one year), late rheumatoid arthritis (late RA; disease duration of more than one year), spondyloarthropathy (SpA), and osteoarthritis (OA). Mean (standard deviation) (range)
| Early RA | Late RA | SpA | OA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients | 16 | 14 | 23 | 12 |
| Sex (M/F) | 6/10 | 3/11 | 13/10 | 5/7 |
| Age (years) | 51 (17) (18–80) | 56 (12) (36–81) | 41 (15) (19–64) | 62 (15) (38–80) |
| Disease duration (years) | 0.6 (0.3) (0.2–1) | 8.5 (5.7) (1.5–20) | 0.7 (0.5) (0.1–1) | Unknown |
| Joint effusion of the knee (+/−) | 10/6 | 8/6 | 13/10 | 3/9 |
| Number of swollen joints | 6.9 (4.7) | 6.8 (6.6) | 1.6 (0.8) | 1.2 (0.9) |
| Serum CRP1-150 (mg/l) | 36 (26) | 42 (41) | 24 (23) | 05 (03) |
| Sedimentation rate (mm/1st h) | 35 (25) | 38 (18) | 24 (18) | 13 (9) |
| Shared epitope (+/−) | 12/4 | 11/3 | 6/17 | 3/9 |
| HLA-B27 (+/−) | 0/16 | 1/13 | 11/12 | 0/12 |
| Rheumatoid factor (+/−) | 6/10 | 10/4 | 0/23 | 0/12 |
| xRay score | 0.80 (0.86) | 1.17 (1.11) | 0.23 (0.69) | 1.33 (1.07) |
| NSAID1-150 (+/−) | 13/3 | 6/8 | 12/11 | 4/8 |
| DMARD1-150(+/−) | 1/15 | 6/8 | 8/15 | 0/12 |
| Corticosteroids (+/−) | 5/11 | 6/8 | 2/21 | 0/12 |
↵1-150 CRP = C reactive protein; NSAID = non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug; DMARD = disease modifying antirheumatic drug.