Imaging News

Fat pad tissue and physiological vascularity have been added to the identified and tested definitions of joint components that can be visualized in ultrasonography in healthy children at various age groups, according to research published in Pediatric Rheumatology.

The characteristics of MRI-detected joint erosions that are specific to rheumatoid arthritis appear infrequently, and may overlap with erosion scores among asymptomatic individuals and patients with other arthritides, according to findings published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Ultrasound-guided needle biopsy procedures are significantly more reliable for sampling synovial tissue than blind needle biopsy, and were as effective as arthroscopy when retrieving synovial tissue from large joints, researchers noted.

Initial combination therapy leads to better radiographic outcomes than step-up monotherapy among patients with early rheumatoid arthritis, according to findings published in BMC Rheumatology.

SAN DIEGO — The structural benefits of sprifermin, a novel recombinant human fibroblast growth factor 18, suggest it may be effective for the disease-modifying treatment of osteoarthritis, according to research presented at the American College of Rheumatology.

Power Doppler ultrasound-detected synovitis is strongly predictive of short-term psoriatic arthritis flare among patients in clinical remission, according to findings.Researchers evaluated 52 consecutive patients with psoriatic arthritis based on the CASPAR criteria and who were in clinical remission. A musculoskeletal examination was conducted and a rheumatologist with experience in ultrasound (US) conducted imaging assessments on the same day as clinical assessment. The rheumatologist was blinded to the clinical data and evaluated 18 joints per patient. Follow-up continued for 6 months to monitor disease flares.

EULAR has published imaging recommendations for the management of patients with osteoarthritis, which stated imaging is not required for typical presentation of the disease, according to a recently published report.

In patients with knee osteoarthritis, quantitative MRI found chondroitin sulfate was superior to celecoxib in the reduction of cartilage volume loss, according to results of a 2-year exploratory study.

Compared to patients without rheumatic disease, a higher level of collagen was found in the heart muscle of patients with rheumatic disease, according to a study of 88 patients.

A low-intensity MRI signal in the infrapatellar fat pad was associated with an increased risk of knee cartilage defects, according to study findings.