Efficacy Study of Condrosulf in the Treatment of Symptomatic OA of the Hand

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients of either sex * Aged 40 and over * Outpatients * Patients fulfilling the American Congress of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for the reporting of hand OA * Patients showing X-ray features of hand OA on at least two joints (2 IP and/or 1 IP and 1 TMC) of the dominant hand on standard plain radiographs (\< 6 month). * Suffering from regular spontaneous pain on the dominant hand (VAS \> or = 40 mm at inclusion time). * Showing a FIHOA score \> or = 6. * Having had at least two painful flares in a finger joint during the previous 12 month. * Patients who have signed the written informed consent for their participation in the study * Patients able to understand and follow the protocol. * Patients with a satisfying health and nutritional status. * Female subjects of childbearing potential using, within three months prior to the inclusion in the study, a reliable form of contraception during the course of the study (oral contraceptive pill, intrauterine device or condoms) or female of non childbearing potential (hysterectomy, bilateral ovariectomy or tubal section/ligation). * Female subjects of childbearing potential with a negative urinary pregnancy test before the inclusion in the study. Exclusion Criteria: * Inflammatory joint disease of other origin * Septic arthritis * Chronic inflammatory joint disease * Previous articular fracture of the concerned articulations * Use of analgesic therapy for other indications * Receiving oral corticosteroids * Mono-articular posttraumatic OA of the finger * Planning surgery of the hands in the following 6 months * Patients suffering or having suffered from secondary osteoarthritis after one of the following diseases: * Infectious arthritis - Acromegaly * Ochronosis - Hemachromatosis * Gout - Wilson's disease * Chondrocalcinosis - Paget's disease * Osteochondrosis - Mutation of collagen * Genetic problems (for ex. hypermobility) - Previous joint fracture * Arthropathies of different aetiologies - Algodystrophy (M. Sudeck) * Congenital abnormalities * Recurrent pseudogout * Major dysplasias * Intra-articular injection in a hand joint from less than 3 months * Basic treatment of arthritis with symptom-modifying agents (chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine sulfate, diacerhein, hyaluronic acid) in the last 3 months * Articular lavage in the last 3 months * Treatment with corticoids, by any administration route during the last month * Patient suffering from frequent asthma crises * Physiotherapy, re-education, alternative medicine (mesotherapy, acupuncture) on the hands foreseeable in the next year * Serious organic diseases: heart failure, renal or hepatic insufficiency, blood dyscrasia, serious infection * Participation in other clinical trials in the two months preceding the study * Known or ascertained hypersensitivity to the active ingredient of the tested drug. * Patients refusing to sign the written informed consent form * Patients who do not co-operate, not respecting the protocol requirements * Pregnant or lactating women