Abstract
In order to study the pathology of juxta-articular osteoporosis in RA, histological and histomorphometrical investigations were performed on bone from tibial proximal metaphysis in rheumatoid knees. Bone specimens were obtained during total knee replacement in 16 patients with RA (49-71 years : mean, 60.8) and 10 patients with osteoarthritis (70-84 years: mean, 75.8) . All of the patients were females.
Histological findings were correlated with ESR, duration and amount of steroid administration in RA patients. Trabecular thinning, perforation and disconnection were examined histologically in bone specimens from both RA and OA patients and compared.
The area of eroded surface was increased more in RA than in OA and the mean width of the trabecula was decreased more. With regard to the relation between histological and clinical findings in RA, the bone resorption rate was closely related to aging, ESR, and the history of steroid administration, especially to ESR, which is a parameter of inflammation.
In summary, juxta-articular bone atrophy in RA was characterized histologically by an increase of bone resorption and by trabecular thinning, which was influenced to a great extent by the inflammatory activity of RA.
