High Frequency Ultrasonography of the Hand in Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Gout and Osteoarthritis...

Over the past decades, management of rheumatic diseases improved both due to development of new drugs and to new imaging techniques.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the type and frequency of different structures involvement in the hand of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and gout compared to patients with osteoarthritis of the hand Methods: We designed an observational, transverse study, which included 110 consecutive patients evaluated in the Rheumatology Department, Emergency County Hospital Craiova, during one year 2014-2015, from which 50 were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, 20 with psoriatic arthritis, 20 with gout and 20 with osteoarthritis. All patients uderwent clinical, biological and US examination.

The global prevalence showed any US abnormalities at the hand level in 47 (94%) RA patients with respect to 17 (85%) patients in PsA group, 15 (75%) patients with gout and 12 (60%) patients in OA group (p=0.01) (Table 1). In all groups, except PsA patients, the tendon involvement (Figure 3a,b) was present in less than 30% of the patients, the high global prevalence being explained by the joint involvement (Figure 3c,d). In most of the patients with tendon involvement, we found joint involvement too.

In conclusion, although further studies are needed, with more patients and more homogenous population, the study reveals some US involvement pattern depending on the patient's disease.