Page 28 - Imaging of Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis in Hand Joints

Chapter 2
Methods
Search strategy and selection
The electronic databases Medline and Embase were searched for articles up to April 2012. The search terms included keywords such as as “osteoarthritis”, “hand joints” and “imaging techniques” (see online supplementary text S1). No language restrictions were used. Titles and abstracts were independently screened by two reviewers (MSS, JJL or RWS) to identify eligible articles. If one of the reviewers selected an abstract, the full-text article was retrieved, screened and, if eligible, selected for review. Selection disagreements were resolved by consensus. Reference lists of retrieved articles were checked for additional records.
Papers were eligible if (1) the paper was a full-length primary paper on hand OA; (2) CT, MRI, US, PET, SPECT or scintigraphy was used to image one or multiple hand joints in patients diagnosed with, or suspected of having, hand OA or if one of these techniques was used to assess hand OA-related characteristics in healthy controls; (3) one or more of the following joints were imaged: first carpometacarpal (CMC1), scapho-trapezio-trapezoidal (STT), metacarpophalangeal (MCP), proximal interphalangeal (PIP), or distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint; and (4) a quantification of validity, reliability, or responsiveness was presented.
Both criterion validity and construct validity studies were included. Criterion validity is determined by comparison with an optimal reference standard, which we considered to be a comparison against histology or arthroscopy. Construct validity is determined by comparison with other techniques measuring similar properties, and we therefore included comparisons against other imaging techniques, clinical examination and healthy controls. Reliability studies were included if any form of inter-reader or intra-reader reliability was reported. Responsiveness studies were included if they measured change and compared this change with another method.
We excluded articles if CR was the only imaging technique used or if descriptive data only were reported, without hypothesis testing. We also excluded articles that assessed a patient group of diverse arthritides, and data from patients with
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