Table 1. Baseline characteristics of early arthritis patients.
| VERA (n = 32) |
Non-RA (n = 24) |
Non-inflammatory controls (n = 7) |
P-value |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 51 (43–59) | 44 (35–60) | 58 (46–69) | 0.109 |
| Female, n (%) | 17 (53.1) | 7 (29.2) | 3 (42.9) | 0.200 |
| ESR (mm/h) | 32.5 (15.3–61.8) | 14 (7–39) | - | 0.068 |
| CRP (mg/l) | 12.3 (4.6–39.5) | 9 (6–24) | - | 0.403 |
| TJC68 | 8 (2–17) | 2 (1–4) | - | 0.001 |
| SJC66 | 7 (4–14) | 2 (1–3) | - | <0.001 |
| Symptom duration (wks) | 6 (4–9) | 4 (2–6) | - | 0.016 |
| IgM-RF positive, n (%) | 11 (34.4) | 0 (0) | - | 0.001 |
| ACPA positive, n (%) | 14 (43.8) | 0 (0) | - | < 0.001 |
| IgM-RF and ACPA both positive, n (%) | 10 (31.3) | 0 (0) | - | 0.003 |
| Self-limiting disease, n (%) | 8 (25%) | 16 (66.7) | - | 0.002 |
| Diagnoses | UA-RA 7 (SLD = 6) RA-RA 25 (SLD = 2) |
UA 10 (SLD = 7) Gout 5 (SLD = 4) PsA 4 Reactive 3 (SLD = 3) Parvovirus 2 (SLD = 2) |
Values shown are median (interquartile range) or number (percentage). ACPA: anti-citrullinated protein antibodies, CRP: C-reactive protein, ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate, IgM-RF: IgM rheumatoid factor, PsA: psoriatic arthritis, RA-RA: patients who fulfil the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for RA at baseline, SJC66: swollen joint count using 66 joints, SLD: self-limiting disease, TJC68: tender joint count using 68 joints, UA: unclassified arthritis, UA-RA: patients who were classified as UA at baseline, but fulfilling the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for RA during follow-up, VERA: very early rheumatoid arthritis.