Contribution of tenosynovitis of small joints to the symptom morning stiffness in patients presenting with undifferentiated and rheumatoid arthritis

Objective: Morning stiffness (MS) is characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Despite its association with functional disability, the extent to which local inflammatory processes contribute to this symptom is unknown. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-detected tenosynovitis of small joints is recognized as an early feature of RA, which is also associated with functional impairments. It has been proposed that tenosynovitis contributes to MS....