Evaluation of finger joint synovial vascularity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis using contrast-enhanced ultrasound with water immersion and a stabilized probe
✍ Scribed by Roberto Stramare; Bernd Raffeiner; Luca Ciprian; Elena Scagliori; Alessandro Coran; Egle Perissinotto; Ugo Fiocco; Valeria Beltrame; Leopoldo Rubaltelli
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2012
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 921 KB
- Volume
- 40
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0091-2751
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Purpose.
To assess synovial microvascularity in finger joints with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), distinguishing between cases of active disease and those in remission; to standardize the technique for software analysis.
Methods.
Fifty‐two finger joints of RA patients (26 with active disease and 26 in remission) were immersed in water and examined by CEUS using a fixed probe. Signal intensity curves were calculated with the software.
Results.
Contrast enhancement was detectable in all 26 patients with active RA (100%), but not in 25 of 26 patients in remission (96%); one of the latter patients (4%) showed minimal enhancement. The method's sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing active disease from remission were 100% and 96%. The grades of synovial enhancement correlated with clinical disease activity and software flow parameters. The peak contrast levels correlated with clinical activity, a peak of 9% representing the cutoff between remission and active disease.
Conclusions.
CEUS with a fixed probe on finger joints immersed in water detected synovial vascularization in RA, producing results suitable for standardized software analysis and avoiding artifacts. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound, 2012