Patients with a history of other inflammatory or
noninflammatory arthritis, megaloblastic anemia, malignancies, renal disease with severe renal insufficiency, chronic infectious and inflammatory diseases, and other diseases in the stage of decompensation were excluded from the study.
The classification of OA as a
noninflammatory arthritis is, in part, due to the synovial fluid leukocyte count that is typically less than 2000 cells/[mm.sup.3].
The first decision point in diagnosing chronic (>6 weeks) polyarticular joint pain is distinguishing between inflammatory and
noninflammatory arthritis. Key features of inflammatory arthritis are stiffness in the morning or after inactivity, and visible joint swelling.