Natural course of erosive arthropathy of the hand in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Abstract

To assess the radiographic features of erosive arthropathy of the hands occurring in patients undergoing hemodialysis, and its relationship with metabolic abnormalities. A retrospective study of hand radiographs of 80 patients on maintenance hemodialysis was performed with the aim of detecting erosive arthropathy. Ten patients showed erosive arthropathy of the hands with a predilection for distal interphalangeal joints. The first joint abnormality was joint space narrowing with or without erosion. The mean duration of hemodialysis was 5 years (range 1-15 years). The development of arthropathy could not be related to a metabolic factor. The pathogenesis of arthropathy of the hands is possibly multifactorial, accounting for the disparate descriptions of the radiographic features in the literature.