Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2011 Dec:32 Suppl 2:E38-44.
doi: 10.1055/s-0031-1281770. Epub 2011 Nov 3.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography is more sensitive than grayscale and power Doppler ultrasonography compared to MRI in therapy monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis patients

S Ohrndorf  1 , A Hensch, L Naumann, K-G A Hermann, C Scheurig-Münkler, S Meier, G R Burmester, M Backhaus
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography is more sensitive than grayscale and power Doppler ultrasonography compared to MRI in therapy monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis patients

S Ohrndorf et al. Ultraschall Med. 2011 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate wrist and finger joints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by grayscale, power Doppler (PD) and contrast-enhanced musculoskeletal ultrasonography (US) and to compare these findings with MRI, clinical (DAS28) and laboratory (ESR; CRP) data.

Materials and methods: US was performed at baseline (t0) and after three, six and twelve (t12) months before and after a change of medical treatment. MRI was carried out at t0 and t12 and used as the reference method. Contrast-enhanced US was used to assess one clinically most affected joint region. Different semiquantitative synovitis scores were calculated by grayscale and PD US.

Results: Contrast-enhanced US results evaluated by enhancement, slope and semi-quantitative assessment significantly correlated to each other, to grayscale US, CRP, as well as to MRI with the highest correlation coefficients for the used contrast-enhanced US modes (r = 0.56, r = 0.55, r = 0.57; each p < 0.05). Sum scores evaluated by grayscale US showed that synovial inflammation in finger joints was detected significantly more frequently in the palmar aspect than on the dorsal side (p = 0.001). Using power Doppler US, the wrists were significantly more inflamed from dorsal than on the palmar side (p = 0.0004). Significant longitudinal correlations between grayscale and power Doppler US scores were detected.

Conclusion: Grayscale, power Doppler and contrast-enhanced US are accurate tools for the detection and follow-up of synovitis in RA wrist and finger joints, with contrast-enhanced US being most sensitive compared to MRI. All imaging methods reflected a good response to TNFα blocking therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms