Abstract
In recent years, there has been remarkable progress in the field of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment with the emergence of biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs such as infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab and tocilizumab in Japan.
In rheumatology clinics like ours, the first visits of many patients with joint symptoms worrying about being RA are seen in everyday outpatient clinics. Most of these patients are classified as non RA, but they also include not only early RA but also even very early that will become RA in the near future.
Since we have already had the strong and effective means to treat RA like biologic DMARDs, I think our duty is to perform early diagnosis and early treatment of RA.
To find and diagnose early RA correctly as early as possible, we are utilizing the medical network system of clinical images established recently with Tonan Hospital. As a tool of clinical images to find and evaluate synovitis of inflamed joints, we have two methods: one is power doppler ultrasonography (PDUS) and the other is MRI of the joint. We use PDUS in our clinic and utilize MRI as a second diagnostic tool by way of medical network system stated above. For the time being, it is very effective system to diagnose early RA in the clinic like ours.
