Assessing Arthritis

PITTSBURGH (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Right now, most doctors rely on the way an arthritic's joints look and feel to assess the efficacy of their arthritis treatment. Now, there may be a faster, more precise way to measure joint problems in arthritis patients.

Ten-year-old Nikki Fair has been living with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, or JRA, for half of her young life. “When I first got diagnosed with JRA, I had to stay out of gymnastics for a year, which I did not like at all,” Fair says.

Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis can have swollen, warm, or red joints with a very limited range of motion. Doctors say there aren't many ways to measure the inflammation. “We assess a patient in a very subjective way," says Raphael Hirsch, M.D., a rheumatologist at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. "They come in, we look at their joints. We try to determine if they’re abnormal.” 

But now, researchers are testing a new, high-tech way to assess patients. Thermal cameras are now being used to measures the pattern of the skin's temperature, searching for hotspots that can appear around an arthritis patient's joints, and a second camera is being used to take 3-D snapshots of the body so doctors can get a better look at a patient's joints. Experts say even the smallest changes are easily noted using these new cameras.

“There’s definitely a feeling in the field that if you can catch some of these patients early, you can prevent some of the long-term damage to the joints,” Dr. Hirsch says.  

Thanks to physical therapy and medication, Fair has regained full use of her hands with no pain. Doctors say they hope these cameras will someday become a routine part of more effective arthritis treatment.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Children’s Physician Referral Line
(412) 692-PEDS (7337).