Quantitative ultrasonography in rheumatoid arthritis: evaluation of inflammation by Doppler technique.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To evaluate ultrasonographic methods, including the Doppler technique, as measures of synovial inflammation in finger joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods

Ultrasonography was performed with a high frequency transducer (13 MHz). Evaluation of the sonographic data was conducted by two independent observers and included measurement of synovial area and thickness (grey tone ultrasound), vascularisation (power/colour Doppler), and indices of the intra- and extrasynovial arterial flow (spectral Doppler). The flow pattern was estimated by the indices of pulsatility (PI) and resistance (RI).

Results

The sonographic measurements of joint space were reproducible with intraobserver, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) 0.82-0.97 (p<0.0001) and int

SUBMITTER: Qvistgaard E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1753744 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature