Quantitative power Doppler ultrasonography is a sensitive measure of metacarpophalangeal joint synovial vascularity in rheumatoid arthritis and declines significantly following a 2-week course of oral low-dose corticosteroids.

Larché, M; Seymour, M; Lim, A; Eckersley, R; Pétavy, F; Chiesa, F; Rioja, I; Lukey, P; Binks, M; McClinton, C; Dolan, K; Taylor, P

Journal article

Quantitative power Doppler ultrasonography is a sensitive measure of metacarpophalangeal joint synovial vascularity in rheumatoid arthritis and declines significantly following a 2-week course of oral low-dose corticosteroids.

Abstract:: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the stability over 2 weeks of ultrasonographic assessments of synovial thickness and vascularity in all 10 metacarpophalangeal joints of subjects with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with a range of disease activities as measured by the validated Disease Activity Score-28 joint score (DAS28-ESR). And in subjects with severe disease activity, to compare the sensitivity of these measurements, acute-phase markers, and vascular endothelial growth factor to change in response to 2 weeks of oral prednisolone (7.5 mg daily). METHODS: A group of 38 subjects with RA were enrolled, 13 (mean DAS28 2.1), 14 (mean DAS28 5.2), and 11 (mean DAS28 5.7) meriting oral corticosteroid treatment. Synovial thickness and vascularity were assessed by ultrasonography at 3 timepoints. Images were ranked by semiquantitative scale. Vascularity was also measured by quantitative determination of the power Doppler area (PDA). RESULTS: In the whole RA cohort, baseline indices of synovial thickness and vascularity correlated with DAS28, as did PDA (r = 0.42, p < 0.05). In the RA groups on stable therapy, synovial thickness and vascularity showed little variation over 2 weeks. In the corticosteroid group, PDA had fold changes of -1.9-fold (p < 0.05) after 1 week and -2.2-fold (p < 0.05) after 2 weeks. These were the largest fold changes of all measured variables. CONCLUSION: Ultrasonographic measures can differentiate disease severity in RA correlating closely with DAS28. Quantitative power Doppler signal was significantly reduced within 1 week of oral prednisolone, a rapid kinetic suggesting that PDA may have value as a sensitive early marker of therapeutic response.

Publication status:: Published

Actions

Email

Email this record

Send the bibliographic details of this record to your email address.

Your Email
Please enter the email address that the record information will be sent to.

-
Your message (optional)
Please add any additional information to be included within the email.
Cite

Cite this record

APA Style

Larché, M., Seymour, M., Lim, A., Eckersley, R., Pétavy, F., Chiesa, F., Rioja, I., Lukey, P., Binks, M., McClinton, C., Dolan, K., & Taylor, P. (2010). Quantitative power Doppler ultrasonography is a sensitive measure of metacarpophalangeal joint synovial vascularity in rheumatoid arthritis and declines significantly following a 2-week course of oral low-dose corticosteroids. Journal of Rheumatology, 37(12), 2493–2501.

MLA Style

Larché, M., et al. “Quantitative Power Doppler Ultrasonography Is a Sensitive Measure of Metacarpophalangeal Joint Synovial Vascularity in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Declines Significantly Following a 2-Week Course of Oral Low-Dose Corticosteroids.” Journal of Rheumatology, vol. 37, no. 12, 2010, pp. 2493–501.

Chicago Style

Larché, M, M Seymour, A Lim, R Eckersley, F Pétavy, F Chiesa, I Rioja, et al. 2010. “Quantitative Power Doppler Ultrasonography Is a Sensitive Measure of Metacarpophalangeal Joint Synovial Vascularity in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Declines Significantly Following a 2-Week Course of Oral Low-Dose Corticosteroids.” Journal of Rheumatology 37 (12): 2493–2501.
Share
Print