The number of chest pain admissions was 39 (range per patient: 1 - 16) before the review and 6 (range per patient: 0 - 3) after the review, (p<0.0001).
The mean number of chest pain admissions was 3.5 (+/- 4.8) before the review and 0.5 (+/- 1.1) after the review, (p<0.0001).
The average time to diagnosis was 9.4 months, ranging from immediate diagnosis to 57 months.
The mean number of tender joints was 3.4 (range: 1 - 8).
The number of minor investigations was 169 before the review and 17 after the review, (p<0.01).
The number of major investigations was 30 before the review and 0 after the review, (p<0.01).
The number of inpatient days was 137 before the review and 5 after the review, (p<0.01).
The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increased after the review (13 patients before the review and an additional 9 after the review).
All patients (13) who had received perichondral steroid injections (20 mg methylprednisolone acetate with 1 mL 2% lignocaine) reported symptomatic improvements.
Eleven patients started SSZ and all but one responded to therapy.
All 10 patients continued SSZ (range: 0.5 - 6 years), but one patient was changed to methotrexate because of a lack of efficacy.