Heidi J. Siddle1, Andrew J. Grainger2,
Anthony C. Redmond1, Philip S. Helliwell1, Richard J.
Wakefield1, Richard J. Hodgson3
1Section of Musculoskeletal Disease,
University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom; 2Department of
Radiology, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, United Kingdom; 3Leeds
Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, University of Leeds, Leeds, United
Kingdom
Damage
to the plantar plates of the metatarsophalangeal joints has been suggested as
a cause of forefoot pain and deformity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
(RA). This study looked at 68 plantar
plates in patients with RA and forefoot pain using high resolution 3T
MRI. Plantar plate pathology was
revealed in all patients. However,
high signal at the insertion on T2-weighted images (often interpreted as a
tear) is not indicative of a tear in patients with RA.