Clinical Correlations.

There are two distinct phases in the assessment of a patient presenting with symptoms in and around the joint. The first is to determine whether joint inflammation is actually present; the second is to elucidate the cause of the inflammatory arthritis, if present. This study relates to the first of these problems. It is a frequent observation that patients presenting with symptoms of arthritis may initially have few definite findings on objective evaluation and may only later manifest obvious joint swelling or other clear-cut signs of inflammation. This presentation of symptoms without definite signs may last for a long time in patients who eventually prove to have rheumatoid arthritis. It is also likely that, in some patients who finally develop advanced destructive disease, objective signs ofinflammation are never overt. We believe that the joint scan is a valuable adjunct to the identification and documentation of patients with joint inflamation.