Ultrasound verified inflammation and structural damage in patients with hereditary haemochromatosis-related arthropathy

Table 1 Patients’ characteristics

	HH-WA (n = 24)	HH-A (n = 26)	HOA (n = 37)
Age^a (years)	57.1 (13.0)	57.8 (9.7)	60.1 (9.5)
Female, n (%)	8 (33.3)*	5 (19.2)*	34 (91.9)
Disease duration since diagnosis^b (years)	7.5 (3.2–22.8)*	10.3 (0.8–27.6)*	0.9 (0–23.5)
Organ involvement HH, n (%)
Aminotransferase elevation	4 (16.7)	2 (7.7)	-
Liver fibrosis/cirrhosis	0	5 (19.2)^¥
Impaired glucose tolerance	1 (4.2)	2 (7.7)
Diabetes mellitus	2 (8.3)	3 (11.5)
Cardiomyopathy	0	0
Morning stiffness^b (minutes)	0 (0–10)	3 (0–180)	7.5 (0–120)
EGA^cb (mm)	0 (0–29)	13.5 (0–61)	10 (1–53)
PGA^cb (mm)	5 (0–65)	25 (0–74)	25 (0–77)
Pain hands^cb (mm)	0.5 (0–18)	31 (0–72)	24.5 (0–86)
Pain hip^cb (mm)	1 (0–44)	10.5 (0–58)	6 (0–91)
Pain knee^cb (mm)	0.5 (0–50)	25 (0–76)	10 (0–86)
Pain ankle^cb (mm)	1 (0–60)	35.5 (0–96)*	3 (0–86)
Hand function^cb (mm)	4.5 (0–66)	39.5 (0–100)	47 (0–92)
Bony swollen joints^b	0 (0–12)	2.5 (0–14)*	7 (0–24)
≥1 Bony swollen joint, n (%)	8 (33.3)	16 (61.5)**	36 (97.3)
Tender joints^b	0 (0–31)	4 (0–29)	3 (0–40)
≥1 Tender joint, n (%)	6 (25.0)	22 (84.6)	30 (81.1)
Swollen joints^b	0 (0–1)	0 (0–7)	0 (0–6)
≥1 Swollen joint, n (%)	2 (8.3)	6 (23.1)	8 (21.6)
ESR^b (mm/1^st hour)	9 (0–29)	8.5 (1–36)	6 (2–34)
CRP^b (mg/L)	0.5 (0–4)*	0.5 (0–4.2)*	1.3 (0.1–12.6)
Ferritin^b (at visit) (ng/ml)	83.6 (28–1060)	66.1 (14–853)	100.0 (19–266)

Pain scores, global assessment, function, morning stiffness, bony swollen joints, tender joints and swollen joints were not compared between HH-WA and HH-A or HH-WA and HOA because by definition, there were differences between these groups
HH hereditary haemochromatosis, CRP C-reactive protein (normal value 0–5 mg/L), EGA evaluator global assessment, ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate (normal range 0–10 mm/1^st hour), HH-A hereditary haemochromatosis with arthropathy, HH-WA hereditary haemochromatosis without arthropathy, HOA hand osteoarthritis, n number, PGA patient global assessment
^aMean (standard deviation)
^bMedian (range)
^cAll measured on a visual analogue scale with a range 0–100 mm, with 0 = best, 100 = worst
*p < 0.01, **p < 0.001 compared to HOA; ^¥ p ≤ 0.05 compared to HH-WA; p values are not adjusted for multiple testing