"Translating Articular Biomarkers Into Diagnoses"

Early diagnosis is a key factor in the prevention and management of rheumatic diseases. Rheumatic diseases are classically diagnosed based on criteria combining clinical, biological and radiological features. However, in up to 20% of the cases, diagnoses remain unstated and underlying rheumatic diseases unclassified, which might lead to delayed specific treatment and unfavourable clinical outcomes. In addition, conventional methods could lack sensitivity and specificity for early diagnosis. Biological samples are attractive targets for the early detection of articular damage because they allow for collection of multiple levels of information from the clinic and the laboratory\]. Biological samples most frequently collected from patients with rheumatic diseases are synovial fluid by joint aspiration, blood by venous puncture and tissue specimen by surgery. The investigators hypothesize that in challenging situations, novel biomarkers detected from synovial fluid or articular tissues using both conventional (e.g. histology, immunodetection, PCR) and innovative (e.g. Raman spectroscopy, nanospectroscopy) laboratory tests may help refining diagnosis and better classifying patients with rheumatic diseases.