How to diagnose early rheumatoid arthritis?

Rheumatic disease is a type of joint disease that has a very big impact on people's lives. It can cause great trauma to people's lives, causing patients to experience extreme joint pain at any time. In addition, early rheumatoid arthritis can show some seasonal sensitivity symptoms, putting patients on the brink of great pain. The symptoms of rheumatic diseases are difficult to treat in the early stages. Let’s take a look at how to diagnose early rheumatoid arthritis.

The diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis mainly relies on clinical manifestations, autoantibodies and X-ray findings. The key points of diagnosis are:

1. Morning stiffness: Stiffness in the joints and surrounding areas lasts for at least 1 hour when waking up in the morning (during 6 weeks or more).

2. Multi-regional arthritis: Arthritis occurs in 3 or more regions (interphalangeal joints, metacarpophalangeal joints, wrists, elbows, knees, ankles and metatarsophalangeal joints, etc.), and at the same time there is soft tissue swelling, effusion or pain.

3. Hand arthritis: Swelling and pain in at least one joint of the wrist, metacarpophalangeal or proximal interphalangeal arthritis (6 weeks or more).

4. Symmetrical arthritis: Both joints are affected at the same time (the proximal interphalangeal joints, metacarpophalangeal joints and metatarsophalangeal joints are not necessarily symmetrical when affected), and the course of the disease is 6 weeks or more.

5. Rheumatoid nodules: Doctors can observe subcutaneous nodules on bony prominences, on the surface of extensor muscles or around joints.

6. Positive rheumatoid factor: Any detection method proves that the serum rheumatoid factor content is abnormal (the positive rate in the normal population is less than 5%).

7. X-ray examination: X-ray manifestations of early arthritis include swelling of soft tissue around joints and mild osteoporosis near the joints; in the middle and late stages, it may manifest as narrowing of the joint space, joint destruction, joint dislocation or fusion, bone erosion or clear bone decalcification in the affected joints.

8. The patient stands with the healthy leg upright and lifts the affected leg. When the pelvis on the affected side is lifted upward, if the gluteal fold on that side rises, it is negative. Then stand the affected leg upright and raise the healthy leg. If the pelvic and gluteal folds of the healthy side drop, it is positive, indicating that there is a lesion in the hip joint.

If 4 of the above 8 items are met and other arthritis are excluded, the diagnosis can be made.