Ultrasound assessment of the foot in early inflammatory arthritis

NewsBot · Jul 6, 2011

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Ultrasound imaging for the rheumatologist XXXIII. Sonographic assessment of the foot in early arthritis patients.
Scirè CA, Iagnocco A, Meenagh G, Riente L, Filippucci E, Delle Sedie A, Sakellariou G, Bombardieri S, Grassi W, Valesini G, Montecucco C.
Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2011 May-Jun;29(3):465-9

OBJECTIVES:
To investigate the ability of ultrasonography (US) to detect synovitis in metatarsophalangeal joints (MTP) in patients with suspicion of early arthritis, and to discriminate between diagnoses.

METHODS:
Patients referred to early arthritis clinics for differential diagnosis were enrolled, and clinical and laboratory measures were recorded. Ultrasonography of MTPs was performed searching for synovial hypertrophy (SH), joint effusion (JE) and power Doppler (PD), graded from 0 to 3 on a semi-quantitative scale. Patients were classified according to definite classification criteria, or as undifferentiated arthritis or non-inflammatory pathology. US findings were compared across different diagnoses and diagnostic accuracy was calculated taking clinical diagnosis as reference.

RESULTS:
Out of 427 patients (71% rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 20% undifferentiated arthritis (UA), 15% spondyloarthritides (SpA), 13% non-inflammatory), 307 (71.9%) showed SH, 120 (25.5%) JE, 77 (18.0%) PD. RA patients had median JE, SH and PD scores significantly higher than non-inflammatory and other diseases. Patient with UA and SpA had higher scores of SH and JE compared to non-inflammatory, no significant differences were present among different diagnosis. In RA, SH and JE were more frequently detected in the second MTP, and PD in the fifth. Crystal-related arthritis showed a tendency towards a more frequent involvement of the first MTP. The diagnostic accuracy of single US measures was moderate, but the detection of a PD of 2 or more provided a high specificity for the diagnosis of RA.

CONCLUSIONS:
US can be used as additional information in patients evaluated in an early arthritis setting. High scores of JE, SH and PD, together with the pattern of involvement are suggestive of RA.
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NewsBot · Nov 2, 2011

Sonographic assessment of the foot in patients with osteoarthritis.
Iagnocco A, Filippucci E, Riente L, Meenagh G, Delle Sedie A, Sakellariou G, Ceccarelli F, Montecucco C, Bombardieri S, Grassi W, Valesini G.
Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2011 Sep-Oct;29(5):757-62. Epub 2011 Oct 31.

OBJECTIVES:
The aims of our study were to investigate the prevalence of ultrasound (US) abnormalities in the foot of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and to compare them with clinical findings.

METHODS:
Consecutive patients with foot OA were investigated by clinical and US examinations. Bilateral US of the midfoot and forefoot joints was performed by using a Logiq9 machine, equipped with a multi-frequency linear probe, operating at 14 MHz; in addition, power Doppler was applied (frequency 7.5 MHz; gain 50%; PRF 750 Hz). Clinical evaluation included the registration of demographic data, disease duration, current treatment undergone, joint swelling and tenderness. US study included the assessment of both inflammatory (joint effusion, synovial hypertrophy, local pathologic vascularisation at PD, big-toe bursitis) and structural (osteophytes, MTP joints subluxation) abnormalities.

RESULTS:
One hundred patients were studied. At midfoot level, clinical examination demonstrated signs suggestive for joint inflammation (tenderness and/or swelling) in at least one joint in 43/200 feet (21.5%) of 23 patients; US showed inflammatory abnormalities in 87/200 feet (43.5%) of 63 patients and structural lesions in 100/200 feet (50%) of 70 patients. At forefoot level, clinical examination found inflammatory signs in at least one joint in 128 feet (64%) of 64 patients; US showed inflammatory abnormalities in at least one joint in 176 feet (88%) of 88 patients and structural lesions in 189 feet (86%) of 86 patients.

CONCLUSIONS:
US is a useful imaging tool for analysing both inflammatory and structural damage lesions at foot joints level in OA. In addition, it demonstrated to be more sensitive than clinical examination in the detection of inflammatory abnormalities.
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NewsBot · Dec 25, 2018

Utility of power Doppler ultrasonography for detecting forefoot bursae in early rheumatoid arthritis: A case report.
Endo Y, Koga T, Eguchi M, Okamoto M, Tsuji S, Takatani A, Shimizu T, Sumiyoshi R, Igawa T, Kawashiri SY, Iwamoto N, Ichinose K, Tamai M, Nakamura H, Origuchi T, Kawakami A.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2018 Dec;97(51):e13295.

RATIONALE:
Power Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS) in musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) is a sensitive and reliable method for the assessment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The association between ultrasound-detectable forefoot bursae and the development of RA has gained attention. However, a few studies have evaluated the utility of PDUS for examining forefoot bursae in early RA. We report the case of an RA patient who developed reduced foot mobility and had detectable intermetatarsal bursitis with remarkable power Doppler (PD) signals in MSUS at the onset of RA.

PATIENT CONCERNS:
A 40-year-old Japanese woman diagnosed with palindromic rheumatism visited our department due to sustained forefoot pain and difficulty walking. The levels of both rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticitrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) were high. She had opening toes with swelling in metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joints. PDUS showed intermetatarsal bursitis with mild MTP synovitis.

DIAGNOSES:
We diagnosed RA by comprehensive judgment based on the 2010 American College of Rheumatology and European League Against Rheumatism classification criteria for RA.

INTERVENTIONS:
We administered 6.0 mg/wk of methotrexate (MTX) and 2.0 mg/d of prednisolone (PSL) followed by an increase of MTX to 10 mg/wk.

OUTCOMES:
After those treatments, the patient's symptoms showed improvement. As of this writing, the patient's remission has been maintained for >2 months.

LESSONS:
Her case suggests that PDUS is useful for the detection of forefoot bursitis, and the detection of forefoot bursitis by PDUS may provide the opportunity to make an early diagnosis of RA.
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NewsBot · Dec 2, 2019

Reasons for discordances between ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of the ankle, hindfoot and heel of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Șerban O et al
Medical Ultrasonography [01 Nov 2019, 21(4):405-413]

AIM:To compare the ultrasonography (US) performance with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in identifying pathology in ankles, hindfeet and heels of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and to evaluate the reasons for discordances between the two imaging methods. MATERIAL AND METHODS:RA patients were enrolled and evaluated using the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and the Disease Activity Score 28 with C-reactive Protein (DAS28-CRP). The ankle (tibiotalar joint, tendons), hindfoot (talonavicular, subtalar joints) and heel of the most symptomatic or dominant foot (for the asymptomatic patient)were evaluated by two pairs of examiners using US and contrast-enhanced MRI. RESULTS:Totally, 105 joints, 245 tendons and 35 heels in 35 patients [mean age 59.2±11.25 years old, median disease duration 36 (16.5-114), mean CDAI 19.87±12.7] were evaluated. The interobserver agreements between the two sonographers, and the two radiologists were good and very good (k=0.624-0.940). The overall agreement between US and MRI was very good for subcalcaneal panniculitis (k=0.928, p<0.001), moderate for synovitis (k=0.463, p<0.001) and tenosynovitis (k=0.514, p<0.001), fair for osteophytes (k=0.260, p=0.004), and poor for erosions (k=0.063, p=0.308) and heel's structures. MRI found more erosions, synovitis, osteophytes,tenosynovitis and retrocalcaneal bursitis, but US found more enthesophytes and plantar fasciitis. Many of the discordancesbetween the two imaging techniques have explanations related to the technique itself or definition of the pathologic findings. CONCLUSIONS:US is comparable to MRI for the evaluation of ankle, hindfoot and heel in RA patients and discordances in theinterpretation of the pathological findings/normal structures must be carefully analyzed.
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NewsBot · Jan 19, 2022

Region specificity of rheumatoid foot symptoms associated with ultrasound-detected synovitis and joint destruction
Shinichiro Ishie et al
Mod Rheumatol. 2021 Aug 31

Objectives: We aimed to clarify the clinical implication of ultrasound (US)-detected foot joint inflammation in tightly controlled patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We evaluated bilateral foot joints (second to fifth metatarsophalangeal joints of forefoot; tarsometatarsal, cuneonavicular and midtarsal joints of midfoot) of 430 RA patients for synovitis using Power Doppler (PD) imaging by US. We made a cross-sectional and a 3-year longitudinal analysis about the associations of US-detected synovitis with clinical, laboratory and radiographic data as well as foot-specific outcomes using a self-administered foot evaluation questionnaire (SAFE-Q).

Results: The US-detected foot synovitis was seen in 28% of patients. The US-detected synovitis was closely related to 28 joint-disease activity score (DAS28) more in the forefoot than in the midfoot, while related to joint destruction in both. Multiple regression analyses showed significant associations between midfoot PD positivity and SAFE-Q in the remission group. SAFE-Q was worsened after the 3-year interval, but PD positivity at baseline did not contribute to the changes. On the other hand, destruction of the joints with US-detected synovitis significantly progressed in 3 years than with not.

Conclusions: US-detected synovitis on foot joints were related to systemic inflammation, clinical symptoms, and future joint destruction with region specificity.
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Ultrasound assessment of the foot in early inflammatory arthritis

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Ultrasound assessment of the foot in early inflammatory arthritis

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

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Share This Page

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