Ultrasound scans 'can help predict progression of hand osteoarthritis'

A new study has highlighted the potential usefulness of ultrasound scans in helping to predict the progression of hand osteoarthritis.

Led by Oslo's Diakonhjemmet Hospital, the Norwegian study saw 78 participants from the Oslo Hand OA cohort undergo ultrasound examination, conventional x-rays and clinical examination both at baseline and then again after five years.

The team wanted to find out whether ultrasound-detected inflammation - as evidenced by the presence of gray-scale (GS) synovitis in the resulting images, and the use of power Doppler (PD) scanning techniques - predicted radiographic progression over time.

According to results published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, radiographic progression occurred in 17.9 per cent of joints. Ultrasound-detected inflammation was shown to predict disease progression, while dose-response associations were observed for GS synovitis and PD signals.

Significant associations were also observed between ultrasound inflammation and progression of all individual radiographic features, and between clinical soft tissue swelling at baseline and radiographic progression.

The researchers concluded: "Ultrasound-detected gray-scale synovitis and PD signals were significantly associated with radiographic progression after five years. This study supports the use of ultrasound as a tool to detect patients with hand osteoarthritis who are likely to progress."

Osteoarthritis affecting the hands usually is usually due to nodal osteoarthritis, a form of the joint disease that runs in families. It mainly affects women and often starts when they reach their 40s or 50s, around the menopause.

A spokeswoman for Arthritis Research UK commented: "Our research has shown that people who have inflammation, as shown on ultrasound, may develop more severe and progressive osteoarthritis and experience greater pain and disability. This study confirms the usefulness of this imaging technique in measuring progression of osteoarthritis affecting the hand.

"At the moment ultrasound is widely used as a diagnostic or prognostic tool, and osteoarthritis can only be identified by x-ray, which is limited to revealing changes to bones and degeneration of cartilage."

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