title: Ultrasound features of nonstructural lesions of the proximal and distal interphalangeal joints of the hands in patients with finger osteoarthritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the ultrasound features of nonstructural damage (effusions, synovitis, Doppler signal abnormalities) in the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) and distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints of the fingers in patients with finger osteoarthritis compared to healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  We included patients at a hospital-based outpatient rheumatology clinic who met American College of Rheumatology criteria for finger osteoarthritis and we compared them to healthy controls. Exclusion criteria were the same in both groups. We collected demographic data and symptoms. Ultrasonography (Esaote Technos machine, two sonographers) was performed in all participants in both groups and plain radiography in the patients only. The PIP and DIP joints on fingers 2 to 5 were evaluated. Ultrasound features were compared between the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We included 55 patients (51 women; 440 PIPs and 440 DIPs) and 46 healthy controls (368 PIPs and 368 DIPs). The rate of PIP joint effusion was similar in the two groups (patients, 2.05±2.03; controls, 1.6±1.7; P>0.05), whereas the rate of DIP effusion was significantly higher in the patients (2.09±1.87 versus 0±0.6 in the controls; P<0.05). Increased vascularization by Doppler evaluation was rare and occurred chiefly in the DIP joints of the patients. None of the participants in either group had synovitis. The ultrasound abnormalities were not significantly different between right- and left-handed individuals, and neither did they correlate with clinical disease expression or severity of the radiographic damage.
authors.affiliation: Service de rhumatologie, hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 47, boulevard Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France. arrestierstephanie@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arrestier
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Etchepare
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rozenberg
authors.forename: Violaine
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Foltz
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fautrel
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bourgeois
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005384:Finger Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010045:Outpatients; D013585:Synovitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D055815:Young Adult