Table 4.
Results from the exploratory subanalysis comparing MCP joint space morphology between HH men and age-matched healthy control men
| Means ± SD | p value HH men vs. control men | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| HH men (n = 5) | Healthy control men—age matched (n = 5) | ||
| Demographics | |||
| Age [years] | 59.8 ± 12.5 | 60.8 ± 15.7 | 0.639 |
| BMI [kg/m2] | 29.9 ± 6.1 | 28.0 ± 3.9 | 0.572 |
| Height (cm) | 175.8 ± 8.2 | 173.6 ± 10.5 | 0.587 |
| Gender, female n [%] | 8 [100%] | 8 [100%] | 1.000 |
| Time since HH diagnosis [years] | 19.6 ± 14.9 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Phlebotomies since diagnosis n | 95.0 ± 83.8 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Annual rate of phlebotomies n | 5.0 ± 1.4 | n.a. | n.a. |
| Arthralgias in at least one hand n [%] | 4 [80.0] | n.a. | n.a. |
| HR-pQT-derived MCP joint space parameters | |||
| MCP 2 | |||
| JSV [mm3] | 106.33 ± 33.60 | 102.52 ± 21.81 | 0.864 |
| JSW [mm] | 1.56 ± 0.37 | 1.79 ± 0.04 | 0.239 |
| JSW.MIN [mm] | 0.31 ± 0.33 | 1.00 ± 0.34 | 0.043 |
| JSW.MAX [mm] | 2.77 ± 0.20 | 2.83 ± 0.10 | 0.654 |
| JSW.AS | 14.2 ± 6.37 | 3.28 ± 1.66 | 0.043 |
| JSW.SD [mm] | 0.46 ± 0.14 | 0.37 ± 0.12 | 0.208 |
| MCP 3 | |||
| JSV [mm3] | 92.03 ± 29.36 | 117.85 ± 13.74 | 0.200 |
| JSW [mm] | 1.45 ± 0.28 | 1.72 ± 0.26 | 0.234 |
| JSW.MIN [mm] | 0.34 ± 0.36 | 1.08 ± 0.36 | 0.043 |
| JSW.MAX [mm] | 2.76 ± 0.24 | 2.76 ± 0.11 | 0.997 |
| JSW.AS | 12.75 ± 6.28 | 2.78 ± 0.92 | 0.020 |
| JSW.SD [mm] | 0.49 ± 0.14 | 0.34 ± 0.10 | 0.144 |
Patient characteristics and HR-pQCT-derived joint space parameters of metacarpophalangeal joints (MCP) 2 and 3 shown for men suffering from HH (n = 5) and for healthy control men (n = 5). Healthy control men were 1: 1 matched to HH men by age, using 5 years age strata. Intergroup differences were assessed using paired t-test, if data were normally distributed, or Wilcoxon-signed-rank test, if data were not normally distributed
HR-pQCT high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography, n.a. not applicable
Significant p-values (p < 0.05) are marked in bold print*
*For comparability reasons, all above-mentioned MCP data were analyzed using the SPECTRA consensus MCP joint space algorithm [44] as described in detail in the Supplementary material