[Status of arthrosonography in rheumatologic diagnosis: examination technic, findings and their interpretation. I. The elbow joint]

Between July 1984 and October 1985 the elbow joints of 135 patients were examined by arthrosonography. Of these 97 patients suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, 4 from psoriatic arthritis, 2 from suspected ankylosing spondylitis, 1 from gout, and 27 patients were found to be normal. The equipment used was a Kretz sector scanner Combison 320 and a Siemens Sonoline SL linear scanner. The examination was divided into three parts: longitudinal and transversal scans of the fossa olecrani, the fossa coronoidea and fossa radii. We found, that inflammation of the elbow joint has to be evaluated separately for each part of the joint. The more intense the inflammation, the more certain diagnosis becomes. Bursitis and rheumatoid nodules could be separated sonographically. Also synovialitic complications such as of the bone and the development of synovial cysts could easily be recognized. These arthrosonographical findings are a valuable help in the diagnostics of rheumatic diseases. Their interpretation, however, requires the input of all clinical data.