Power Doppler sonography in the assessment of synovial tissue of the knee joint in rheumatoid arthritis: a preliminary experience

Objective: To investigate the intra-articular vascularisation of the synovial pannus in the knee of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with power Doppler ultrasonography (PDS) and an echo contrast agent and correlate the area under the time-intensity curves with the clinical findings and labora...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of the rheumatic diseases 2002-10, Vol.61 (10), p.877-882
Main Authors: Carotti, M, Salaffi, F, Manganelli, P, Salera, D, Simonetti, B, Grassi, W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
ANA
antinuclear antibody
Area Under Curve
Arthritis, Rheumatoid - diagnostic imaging
Biological and medical sciences
CASI
chronic arthritis systemic index
Contrast Media
Cross-Sectional Studies
DAS
Disease
disease activity score
echo contrast agent
erythrocyte sedimentation rate
ESR
Extended Report
Female
HAQ
Health Assessment Questionnaire
Humans
Inflammation
intravenous
Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects)
Joint surgery
Joints
Knee
Knee Joint - blood supply
Knee Joint - diagnostic imaging
Laboratories
magnetic resonance imaging
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
MRI
Pain
Patients
PDS
Polysaccharides
power Doppler sonography
RAI
Regional Blood Flow
Rheumatoid arthritis
rheumatoid factor
Ritchie articular index
Severity of Illness Index
synovial fluid
Synovial Membrane - blood supply
Synovial Membrane - diagnostic imaging
synovial tissue
Synovitis - diagnostic imaging
Ultrasonic imaging
Ultrasonic investigative techniques
Ultrasonography, Doppler
Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color
ultrasound
VAS
visual analogue scale
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Summary:Objective: To investigate the intra-articular vascularisation of the synovial pannus in the knee of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with power Doppler ultrasonography (PDS) and an echo contrast agent and correlate the area under the time-intensity curves with the clinical findings and laboratory measures of disease activity. Method: Forty two patients with RA (31 women, 11 men) with history and signs of knee arthritis, classified according to a modified index of synovitis activity (active, moderately active, and inactive), were studied. Clinical and functional assessment (number of swollen joints, intensity of pain, general health—visual analogue scale, disability index—Health Assessment Questionnaire, Ritchie articular index) and a laboratory evaluation were made on all patients. Disease activity was evaluated using the disease activity score (DAS) and the chronic arthritis systemic index (CASI) for each patient. All patients were examined with conventional ultrasonography and PDS before injection of intravenous ultrasound contrast agent (Levovist). The quantitative estimation of the vascularisation of the synovial membrane was performed with time-intensity curves and calculation of the area under the curves. Results: The mean (SD) value of the area underlying time-intensity curves was 216.2 (33.4) in patients with active synovitis, 186.8 (25.8) in patients with moderately active synovitis, and 169.6 (20.6) in those with inactive synovitis. The mean value of the areas differed significantly between the patients with active and those with inactive synovitis (p
ISSN:0003-4967
1468-2060
DOI:10.1136/ard.61.10.877