title: Is articular pain in rheumatoid arthritis correlated with ultrasound power Doppler findings?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study is addressed to determine if there is a correlation between intra-articular power Doppler (PD) and pain symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study of patients with established RA was rolled out. Seventy-two patients with chronic swelling at metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints were consecutively enrolled in the study and divided into two groups (painful and painless). In the painful group, the inclusion criteria were pain in the visual analog scale (VAS), from 0 to 10 cm, of at least 4 cm and 0 in the painless group. All two to five MCP joints, bilaterally, were scanned by ultrasound (US) searching for intra-articular PD presence. Any value of p < 0.05 was considered significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients in the painful group had longer morning stiffness, worse 28-joint disease activity score (DAS 28), and health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) indexes. There were no association between pain and gray scale (GS) synovitis, odds ratio (OR) = 0.9 (0.6-1.2), p = 0.485; and pain and intra-articular PD, OR = 0.8 (0.6-1.2), p = 0.244.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intra-articular PD was not correlated with pain symptom in this study.
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Division, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu, 740, CEP 04023-900, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Daniele Freitas
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Clinica Reumatologica, Rheumatology Division, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Jesi, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Marwin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Division, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu, 740, CEP 04023-900, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Leticia Pirozzi
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: de Buosi
authors.affiliation: Radiology Division, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando Bernardes Maia Diniz
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Clinica Reumatologica, Rheumatology Division, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Jesi, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Draghessi
authors.affiliation: Clinica Reumatologica, Rheumatology Division, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Jesi, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Division, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu, 740, CEP 04023-900, São Paulo, Brazil. jnatour@unifesp.br.
authors.forename: Jamil
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Natour
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Division, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu, 740, CEP 04023-900, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rita Nely Vilar
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Furtado
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018771:Arthralgia; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008662:Metacarpophalangeal Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010146:Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013585:Synovitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler
keywords: Doppler ultrasonography; Pain; Rheumatoid arthritis; Synovitis