Quantification of the synovial perfusion in rheumatoid arthritis using Doppler ultrasonography.
In the past decade, Power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) has been established as a new imaging modality for the evaluation of synovial perfusion in the inflamed joints of patients with rheumatic diseases. Various studies have been dealing with the problem of a reproducible quantification method in PDUS as this still appears to be one of the main disadvantages in comparison with magnetic resonance imaging and also with contrast-enhanced ultrasound technique. The main studies addressing this problem are presented and compared to the recently described three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound by outlining the advantages and the remaining difficulties in quantifying synovial vascularity with PDUS.
Albrecht
K
K
Kerckhoff Clinic Bad Nauheim, Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, University of Giessen, Germany. k.albrecht@kerckhoff-clinic.de
Müller-Ladner
U
U
Strunk
J
J
D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000098:blood supply*; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000379:methods*