Rheumatoid Arthritis
Conditions
Keywords
three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasonography, wrist, knee, rheumatoid arthritis
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to: 1. To investigate the wrist joint synovial blood flow intensity and model by quantitative three-dimensional (3D) power Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis before and after initiation of a new medicine and compare these data with routinely used clinical data and laboratory findings, such as pain score, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) 2. To investigate the intra-observer and inter-observer agreement of quantitative 3D PDUS assessment of the vascularity in wrist joints and knee joints using automatic volume scan.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Study design
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
* Patients who fulfill the 1987 ARA criteria for RA * Patients with at least one painful swollen wrist or knee joint observed by a rheumatologist * Patients who will receive a new medicine, including oral corticosteroid, intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy, intraarticular injection with steroid or methotrexate, DMARDs, or biologic agent
Exclusion criteria
* Patients with active infection * Patients with concurrent malignant disease * Patients with a history of traumatic, septic, or cystal arthritis, previous joint surgery, or arthroscopic synovectomy of any wrist or kneejoint within the past 12 months before the study * Patients who have severe wrist or knee joint deformity that makes the US assessment protocol unable to complete
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Correlation between 2D- and 3D-PDUS quantification data and clinical data, including pain score, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) | cross-sectional |