Ultrasound imaging module: report from the GRAPPA 2012 annual meeting

At previous annual meetings of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA), members resolved to develop dactylitis and enthesitis ultrasound research projects. Sonography can depict many anatomic alterations in the digits of patients with dactylitis and can also study vascularity of these tissues noninvasively. At the 2012 GRAPPA meeting, the ultrasound workgroup outlined steps in developing a dactylitis outcome measure: determining sonographic elemental lesions; testing to see which of these are the most discriminant in separating dactylitic digits from normal digits; selecting final elements for a sonographic dactylitis index; and conducting validity and reliability testing. A brief update of the enthesitis project was also presented.