The distal radioulnar joint in rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often–up to 80%–involves the wrist; even up to 95% of the patients after 12 years of disease have signs of wrist arthritis. The distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) is involvement in 31% of these patients in early rheumatoid arthritis and in 75% in late presentations. It is often the first compartment of the wrist involved. Only a few papers discuss the DRUJ problem in RA separately; usually, the whole wrist complex is discussed or described. The latter are right: it is practically impossible to distinguish the DRUJ problem from other arthritic changes in other compartments of the wrist or to ignore associated tendon involvement.