[Efficacy of radiation synovectomy in degenerative inflammatory and chronic inflammatory joint diseases]

Effect of radiosynovectomy (RS) should be evaluated both by subjective and objective parameters in patients with osteoarthritis and in patients with inflammatory joint disorders not caused by rheumatoid arthritis.

A total of 98 joints in 61 patients were investigated. Patients were divided into two groups. The first group included 35 patients with therapy-resistant effusions caused by severe osteoarthritis (46 joints). The second group consisted of 26 patients (52 joints) with ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, undifferentiated spondylarthropathy, psoriatic arthritis, pigmented villo-nodular synovitis, and recurrent synovitis following surgery. Effect of RS was evaluated by a standardized questionnaire and quantified by T/B-ratios derived from blood pool images prior to and after RS.

Within the first patient group suffering from osteoarthritis, 40% showed a good or excellent improvement of clinical symptoms, 51% were unchanged, and in 9% symptoms worsened. Similar results were found in the second patient group. The majority of unchanged results were small finger joints. In contrast, wrist and knee joints showed a better improvement. Good correlation between results of bone scan and patients subjective impression was found in 38% and 67% in the first and the second patient group, respectively.

Radiosynovectomy might be an effective treatment in osteoarthritis and inflammatory joint disorders not caused by rheumatoid arthritis.