Rheumatology

Your Article Summary

See Latest Articles

Ultrasonographic evaluation of joint involvement in early rheumatoid arthritis in clinical remission: Power Doppler signal predicts short-term relapse
Rheumatology, 07/01/09

Scirè CA et al. – In a cohort of early RA patients treated with conventional DMARDs, ultrasonographic-grey scale (US-GS) can detect residual disease activity more sensitively than clinical examination both in active disease and in remission. Moreover, power Doppler (PD)-positive synovial hypertrophy identifies an ongoing inflammation even during remission and predicts short-term relapse.

• Aim was to evaluate the usefulness of a systematic musculoskeletal US assessment in detection of residual disease activity in pts with early RA who achieved clinical remission
• 106 early RA pts receiving conventional DMARDs according to DAS-steered therapeutic protocol over a 24-mo period
• Standard evaluation included clinical, laboratory, functional and systematic (44 joints) US assessment
• US indexes of GS and PD synovitis were correlated with clinical evaluation, laboratory indexes and clinical outcome
• Clinical remission was defined when DAS was <1.6 at 2 consecutive visits 3 mo apart

• US examination was more sensitive than clinical examination, both in active disease and in remission
• In pts with an active disease, both clinical and US indexes correlated with CRP, whereas in remission only PD still remained correlated
• In clinical remission, 95% of pts showed residual GS synovitis, and 41% of them showed a positive PD signal
• Positive PD signal, even in a single joint, resulted the main predictor of relapse within 6 mo

Today in Rheumatoid Arthritis...keeping you current

Receive free subspecialty "5-minute updates" via email

Cancer risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor [alpha] therapies: Does the risk change with the time since start of treatment?
Arthritis & Rheumatism, 11/05/09

Does rheumatoid arthritis equal diabetes mellitus as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease? A prospective study
Arthritis Care and Research , 11/03/09

Infliximab treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthropathies in one rheumatological center: two years drug survival
Rheumatology International, 10/14/09

See All of Rheumatoid Arthritis