Polymyalgia rheumatica is associated with extensor tendon tenosynovitis but not with synovitis of the hands: a magnetic resonance imaging study.

OBJECTIVES

To study with MRI the hands of consecutive PMR patients, who were not selected on the basis of peripheral arthritis, with a correlation to clinical and laboratory findings.

METHODS

Twenty-six hands of 15 PMR patients and 26 hands of 13 healthy controls were studied by extremity-dedicated MRI for the presence of synovitis, tenosynovitis, soft-tissue oedema, bone marrow oedema and erosions.

RESULTS

Sixteen (61.6%) of the 26 PMR hands and 4 (15.4%) of the 26 control hands showed tenosynovitis (P = 0.001). Extensor tendon tenosynovitis was seen in 9 (34.6%) of the 26 PMR hands, but in only 1 (3.8%) control hand (P = 0.002) and flexor tenosynovitis was seen in 12 (46.1%) of the 26 PMR hands and in 4 (15.4%) of the 26 control hands (P = 0.03). All other features were similar in the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data support the view that tenosynovitis, especially of the extensor tendons, is a frequent event in PMR, unrelated to clinical involvement of the hand. This finding is in agreement with the concept of PMR as a disease of extra-articular structures.