| Characteristics | MRI of wrist + MCP group (n = 89) | MRI of wrist-only group (n = 130) |
| Demography and disease activity at baseline | ||
| Age (years) | 51.6 (39.9–61.3) | 53.2 (43.5–62.7) |
| Women (% of patients) | 80 | 65 |
| Ever smokers (% of patients) | 61 | 66 |
| Disease duration (months) | 3.3 (2.4–4.6) | 3.3 (2.6–4.9) |
| HAQ score (range 0–3) | 1.0 (0.5–1.6) | 0.9 (0.4–1.5) |
| DAS28 score | 5.6 (4.6–6.2) | 5.6 (4.7–6.1) |
| DAS28 score at 2 years | 2.0 (1.5–2.8) | 2.2 (1.6–3.1) |
| EULAR remission (% of patients) at 2 years | 56 | 51 |
| Drugs | ||
| Methotrexate dose at 2 years (mg/week) | 12.5 (12.5–20.0) | 16.3 (12.5–20.0) |
| Cumulative dose of intra-articular betamethasone at 2 years (ml) | 9 (6–15) | 9 (6–14) |
| Laboratory findings at baseline | ||
| IgM RF positive (% of patients) | 65 | 67 |
| IgA RF positive (% of patients) | 52 | 57 |
| Anti-CCP positive (% of patients) | 61 | 61 |
| HLA-DRB1-SE (% of patients) | 74 | 75 |
| MRI findings at baseline | ||
| MRI erosive disease (% of patients) | 65 | 65 |
| MRI erosion score, median (IQR) | 1 (0–2) | 1 (0–2) |
| MRI erosion score, mean (SD) | 1.7 (2.1) | 1.5 (1.9) |
| MRI synovitis score, median (IQR) | 10 (8–14) | 5 (4–7) |
| MRI synovitis score, mean (SD) | 10.9 (4.0) | 5.5 (2.4) |
| MRI oedema score, median (IQR) | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–1) |
| MRI oedema score, mean (SD) | 1.6 (4.7) | 1.3 (4.3) |
| Radiographic findings at baseline | ||
| Erosive disease (% of patients) | 56 | 62 |
| Total Sharp Score, median (IQR) | 2 (0–7) | 3 (0–7) |
| Total Sharp Score, mean (SD) | 4.5 (6.0) | 5.2 (6.8) |
| Radiographic findings at 2 years | ||
| Erosive disease (% of patients) | 62 | 69 |
| Total Sharp Score, median (IQR) | 3 (0–9) | 4 (0–10) |
| Total Sharp Score, mean (SD) | 6.1 (9.2) | 7.0 (9.2) |
| Delta-TSS since baseline, median (IQR) | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–1) |
| Delta TSS since baseline, mean (SD) | 1.6 (5.5) | 1.8 (5.1) |
| Progression since baseline (delta-TSS >0) (% of patients) | 26 | 30 |
Results are shown as median (IQR) unless stated otherwise.
CCP, cyclic citrullinated peptide; DAS28, Disease Activity Score (28-joint count); EULAR, European League Against Rheumatism; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; IQR, interquartile range; MCP, metacarpophalangeal; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; RF, rheumatoid factor; SE, shared epitope; TSS, Total Sharp Score (van der Heijde modification).