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The results of clinical and radiological examination of 65 patients with early rheumatoid arthritis with joint syndrome duration up to 12 months were presented in the article. The incidence of radiographic erosions in conventional X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) depending on the clinical and laboratory features was analyzed. A standard protocol of examination and a sequence of images evaluation were developed. MRI is more informative method for topical diagnosis of early arthritis compared to conventional radiography. MRI made it possible to diagnose erosive changes in the joints of 36 patients out of 65 in early rheumatoid arthritis that is significantly greater than with conventional X-ray examination (in 2 patients out of 65). Using MRI, erosive changes in the hand joints were diagnosed 12 months prior to their detection on radiograms, the most significant differences in the definition of destructive changes occur in the carpal bones and heads of metacarpal bones. The rate of wrist erosions detection on MRI correlated with seropositivity for antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptides and did not depend on the process activity by DAS28.