Healing of erosions in rheumatoid arthritis

In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) such early radiographic changes as soft tissue swelling and osteoporosis may well be reversible. Narrowing of the joint space and bone erosion are late changes generally considered to be non-reversible. Our observation suggest, however, that healing of bone erosions, especially in joints in which inflammation had disappeared, is more common than is generally believed. We describe three patients with classical RA in whom serial radiographs showed that the bone erosion in one or more of the joints of their hands or feet had healed.