AB0158 COMPARISON OF CLINICAL EXAMINATION AND ULTRASOUND OF HAND AND WRIST JOINTS IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Authors: S. Bouden, B. D. Siwar, A. Ben Tekaya, O. Saidane, R. Tekaya, I. Mahmoud, L. Abdelmoula
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2021)

Background: Ultrasound (US) is an accessible and non-invasive tool to assess joint involvement in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is used for diagnostic and prognosis purposes and for following of RA patients by evaluating the disease activity and therefore the response to treatment. Objectives: This study investigates agreement between US of hand and wrist findings and the clinical examination and biological inflammatory parameters in RA patients. Methods: We performed a cross sectional study including patients responding to the ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria for RA diagnosis. We collected US findings assessing synovitis and doppler signal in wrist, metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) articulations, and concomitant clinical examination assessing synovitis and pain in the same joints along with C reactive protein (CRP) levels and disease activity score (DAS28). The power Doppler US score (PDUS) from 6 simplified synovial sites (wrists, bilateral second and third MCP joints) was calculated [1]. Results: Forty-three patients were included with 91.7% of women. The mean age was 62±12.95 years old. The mean age at diagnosis was 52±14.79 years with a mean disease evolution of 8±8.57 years. Rheumatoid factor and anti-citrullinated antibodies were positive in respectively 78% and 83.9% of cases. The mean disease activity (DAS28) was 1,52 with levels ranging from 1.5 to 7.33. Right wrist was the articulation in which US synovitis was most frequently detected (60.5% of patients), followed by the left wrist (53.5%). Power doppler signal was detected as frequently in the right as in the left wrist articulations (41.9%). Subsequently, clinical synovitis was most frequently detected in right and left wrist with 39,5% and 41,5% respectively. These joints were the most frequently painful, in 51.2% and 48.8% at right and left respectively. US synovitis of the first interphalangeal joint was found in only 2.3% and 4.7% in the right and left hand respectively, with positive power doppler signal in 2.3% of the patients in the same articulations. The overall agreement between US and clinical examination in detecting synovitis of wrist, MCP and PIP joints was of 67.3%. It was of 71.4% in wrists, 54.7% in MCP joints and 87% in PIP joints. This suggests the presence of infra-clinical synovitis. All sites combined, US synovitis were correlated to clinical synovitis (p=0.03). A positive correlation was found between PDUS from 6 simplified joint sites and CRP levels (p value of 0.02). No correlation was found with disease activity score (DAS28). Conclusion: US of hands and wrist articulations is more performant than clinical examination in detecting synovitis. The most frequently involved joints with clinical and US synovitis, pain and positive power doppler signal were the wrist joints. CRP level is predictive of the presence of a high simplified power doppler score which is related to clinical activity of the disease as reported by Kawashiri et al. [1]. References: [1]Kawashiri S, Kawakami A, Iwamoto N, Fujikawa K, Satoh K, Tamai M, et al. The power Doppler ultrasonography score from 24 synovial sites or 6 simplified synovial sites, including the metacarpophalangeal joints, reflects the clinical disease activity and level of serum biomarkers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology (Oxford). mai 2011;50(5):962-5. Disclosure of Interests: None declared