Development of an ultrasound set for early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis: First steps

Abstract

Introduction/Objective

Early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can improve the prognosis of the disease by reducing joint destruction and achieving a better rate of remission. Musculoskeletal ultrasound (US) has become a potent tool to detect synovitis and erosions. However, until now, there has been a lack of consensus on the US scoring system to help in diagnosing RA early. The purpose of our study was to elaborate a US set suitable for classifying RA patients with inflammatory arthralgia or expressing synovitis and who did not satisfy ACR/EULAR criteria, called “USSRA” (UltraSound Set for Rheumatoid Arthritis).

Materials and methods

A multistep study was conducted. A preliminary set of joints, tendons, and erosions to include in the USSRA were identified through a deep literature screening. The final step of this study was the validation of the final set by international experts in US using a Delphi process.

Results

The preliminary set included 20 joints, 16 tendons, and 8 erosion sites for assessment. After the Delphi process, the changes were to add an assessment of two additional wrist joints and remove one. As for the tendons, two sites were removed from the final set. No changes were proposed for the section erosions. The elementary lesions and scoring system were clarified. The final USSRA forms include 18 joints, 12 tendons, and 8 sites of erosion.

Conclusion

The USSRA is a novel diagnostic tool proposed for detecting early RA in routine practice. The next step will be to assess the reliability of this set in a patient-based exercise.