Ziegelasch M, et al. – The specialists aimed to figure out whether decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) of the hands (BMD loss), evaluated by digital X–ray radiogrammetry (DXR) 3 months after diagnosis, predicts radiographic joint damage after 1 and 2 years in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They found that DXR–BMD loss during the initial 3 months independently predicted radiographic joint damage at 1 year in patients with early RA. Hence, DXR–BMD was probably a useful tool to detect ongoing joint damage and to improve individualization of therapy in early RA.