E Filippucci

..Ongoing follow-up will provide further information regarding the persistence of considerable reduction in PDS signal score and its correlation with DAS28...

..To assess the intra-reader and inter-reader reliabilities of interpreting ultrasonography by several experts using video clips...

..The challenge to three-dimensional ultrasound is to prove itself to be a method that requires no particular skills that can be mastered in just a few minutes and is not operator-dependant [corrected]..

..To assess the prevalence and the distribution of tendon involvement in the hands and wrists of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) describing in detail the ultrasound (US) morphostructural and vascular tendon abnormalities...

..The main aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between persistent disease activity and radiographic progression of joint damage in early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA)...

..The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of a simplified US B-lines scoring system compared with both the US comprehensive assessment and the high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings of IPF in CTD patients...

..This case can be regarded as a representative example of the potential clinical efficacy of sonography in daily rheumatological practise...

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..This study aims to investigate the relationship between clinical and US findings together with the prevalence and distribution of US findings indicative of monosodium urate (MSU) crystal deposition within the foot in patients with gout...

..Sonography allowed the depiction of a wide range of otherwise undetectable pathologic changes in the standard clinical setting...

..To evaluate the interobserver reliability of ultrasonography (US) in the assessment of cartilage damage at metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint level in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)...

..The present study was mainly aimed at investigating the interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility of ultrasound (US) results in the assessment of Achilles tendon enthesopathy in patients with seronegative spondyloarthropathies (SpA)...

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..To assess the impact of the knee joint inflammation, detected by ultrasonography (US), on functional disability in patients with recent-onset inflammatory polyarthritis (IP)...

..Further studies are required to investigate both sensitivity and specificity of US features indicative of crystal aggregates at both tendon and entheseal level...

..The present review provides an update of the available data regarding the use of US in interventional procedures in clinical rheumatology...

..This study is an initial step towards establishing a methodology necessary for developing multi-centre US studies which are aimed at assessing hand involvement in patients with RA...

..To investigate the prevalence and severity of sonographic-detected abnormalities in knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to correlate ultrasound (US) findings with clinical data...

..Our study for the first time demonstrated that 3D US is a valid imaging modality for the assessment of Achilles tendon enthesitis...

..Those results reinforce the importance of including musculoskeletal ultrasound in the patient assessment, especially in those cases in which physical examination is not conclusive...

..The aim of this paper was to present the principal findings in patients with crystal-related arthropathies...

..The present review provides an update of the available data and discusses research issues of ultrasound imaging in early arthritis...

..US represents an accurate, safe and low-cost technique that can be used for the examination of the ankle and foot in rheumatic disorders...

..US assessment of heart, kidney or vascular involvement in CTD will not be the subjects of this paper...

..Moreover, Doppler US has been found to be of help in the assessment of vascular pathologies such as the vasculitides. In this review we provide an update of the data regarding the use of colour Doppler and power Doppler in rheumatology...

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..This paper provides the basic knowledge, reviews the available evidence and discusses the potential of US in the evaluation of the hand and wrist...

..The aims of the present study were to assess the inter-observer agreement of standard joint count and to compare clinical examination with grey scale ultrasonography (US) findings in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA)...

..The research agenda covers: definition of standard scanning protocols for US examination of the most common RPS assessed by the rheumatologist and the clinical impact of US findings in the management of patients with RPS...

..In addition, the deep location of the hip can confer further problems to US scanning in obese or particularly muscular subjects...

..In this review we provide an overview of the current data regarding the role of US in vasculitis. Sonographic evaluation of cardiac or renal involvement in these disorders will not be covered...

..The use of high quality equipment and the application of a standard scanning protocol are mandatory for reliable US assessment of shoulder pathology...

..In the present report we describe the case of a 22-year-old male patient with ankylosing spondylitis who developed a "paradoxic" adverse reaction, while receiving infliximab...

..To study the frequency and features of joint and tendon involvement in the hand of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) by musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) examination...

..We describe two cases of Gitelman syndrome associated with chondrocalcinosis showing the wide range of presentation of this clinical condition...

..The aim of this pictorial essay was to present the main findings evocative of crystal deposition in patients with pyrophosphate arthropathy...

..In this paper, we review and discuss the role of US in the evaluation of elbow, sacroiliac, parasternal and TM joint pathology...

..Future research should also be directed at determining the usefulness of power Doppler technique in monitoring sport-related abnormalities...

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..The aim of the study was to develop a predictive rule combining clinical variables, serological biomarkers and power Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS) for the progression from an early-onset UA to RA in daily rheumatological practice...

..The aim of this paper is to show the potential of ultrasound in a multi-target assessment (joints, tendons, entesis, skin and nails) in patients with psoriatic arthritis, using the last generation ultrasound equipment...

..In the present report we describe a case of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis who presented severe drug hypersensitivity syndrome, with liver and kidney involvement due to sulphasalazine...

..The aim of this pictorial essay was to evaluate the sonographic features of synovial fluid in patients with arthritis...

..Moreover, it provides a general overview of both US anatomy and pathology relevant for the rheumatologist...

..Continuous technological advances in the field of sonography have led to the development of equipment with high power Doppler frequency, which allows for very detailed morphological information regarding the dermal blood flow...

..To assess the role of grayscale and power Doppler sonography in short-term monitoring of acute gouty synovitis...

..CONCLUSION: US is an impressive imaging modality in crystalline arthropathy. The anatomical location of the crystal deposits, clearly depictable by US, allows differentiation between MSU and CPPD aggregates...

..The aim of this pictorial essay is to show a representative example of sonographic-guided injection in carpal tunnel syndrome associated with tenosynovitis of the finger flexor tendons...

..The aim of this radiological vignette was to show a representative example of use of power Doppler sonography with contrast agent in assessing rheumatoid synovitis...

..CONCLUSION: GSS and PDS appear to be a useful adjunctive tool for assessing short term soft tissue changes induced by intra-articular injection treatment with triamcinolone acetonide in small joints of patients with chronic arthritis...

..The present review provides an update of the available data and discusses research issues of US imaging in SpA...

..We review the available evidence about the use of ultrasound in knee examination, provide information on the technical equipment and scanning methods and discuss the still controversial issues...