Sonographic and Duplex evaluation of the synovial activity in wrist and hand joints in rheumatoid arthritis patients / Medhat Ibrahim Eltartoushy ; Supervised Hatem M. Elazizy , Ahmad Yousry Alamir , Abdelkawy Moghazy

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Radio-diagnosis

This study was done to evaluate the role of gray scale ultrasound and Doppler in the assessment of synovial thickening in the wrist joint and small joints of the hand in RA patients.Thirty patients, 23 females and 7 males suffering from rheumatoid arthritis were the subjects of this study, with age range from 21 to 55 years with a mean of 37.32 years with disease duration ranging from 2 months to 20 years with a mean of 4.8 years The assessment of perfusion of synovial pannus proved to be an important objective in evaluating synovial activity. Accurate assessment of disease activity and joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis is important for monitoring treatment efficiency and for predicting the outcome of the disease. This requires sensitive imaging methods for detection and monitoring of the disease process.High resolution ultrasound (HRUS) has become an established imaging technique for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. HRUS is most commonly used in the assessment of soft tissue disease or detection of fluid collection and can also be used to visualize other structures, such as cartilage and bone surfaces. HRUS complements the physical examination by allowing for visualization of synovitis and erosive changes. Estimation of the degree of inflammation can be obtained with the use of color or power Doppler US

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