Ugur, SevcanIrim, YakupYuecel, Ayse AycaCarlak, Hamza FezaKacar, Cahit2025-03-232025-03-2320242618-6500https://doi.org/10.46497/ArchRheumatol.2024.10753https://hdl.handle.net/11486/4561Objectives: This study aims to investigate the thermal characteristics of the small joints of the hands between patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy controls. Patients and methods: Between December 2020 and May 2021, a total of 52 RA patients (9 males, 43 females; mean age: 52.1 +/- 11.1 years; range, 38 to 68 years) who met the revised American College of Rheumatology and European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) classification criteria and 26 healthy controls (10 males, 16 females; mean age: 51.2 +/- 8.2 years; range, 38 to 68 years) were included. Joint tenderness was evaluated using Ritchie articular index (RAI). Joint tenderness was scored from 0 to 3. Thermal data were collected from the hand regions of individuals. A FLIR T450sc microbolometer infrared thermal camera with 320 & YEN;240 resolution was used for the thermography of individuals. Bilaterally proximal interphalangeal joints (1-5) and metacarpophalangeal joints (1-5) were evaluated. The mean temperature was compared between the patients and healthy controls. Results: The mean disease duration of patients with RA was 10.4 +/- 8.9 years. The mean temperature values of thejoints in the patients with a RA RAI score of 0, 1, 2, 3 were 32.43 +/- 1.59 degrees C; 32.71 +/- 1.36 degrees C; 33.12 +/- 1.23 degrees C; 33.60 +/- 0.99 degrees C, respectively. The mean temperature was 31.14 +/- 1.51 degrees C in healthy controls. The mean temperature values of the joints in the RA patients with RAI score of 0 was higher compared to healthy controls (p<0.05). Patients with a Ritchie sensitivity score of 1 had a higher mean temperature compared to patients with score of 0 (p<0.05). In RA patients, thejoints with a RAI score of 1 had higher mean temperature values than thejoints with RAI score of 0 (p<0.05). The mean temperature values of the joints with RAI score of 2 were also higher than the joints with RAI score of 1 (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study results suggest that thermal imaging may be an objective tool for diagnosis and assessing disease activity in RA.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessRheumatoid arthritissmall joints of the handsthermal imagingArticle39461762310.46497/ArchRheumatol.2024.10753400601312-s2.0-85213295188Q3WOS:001422193300011Q4