Ultrasound can be used to make an appropriate decision regarding care for patients with rheumatic conditions involving the hands and feet, according to a study performed at St. Joseph's Healthcare/McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.
The study included 62 patients. Results showed that, "approximately 50% of patients had a change in management following ultrasound evaluation," said Srinivasan Harish, lead author of the study. "Certainty in clinical findings significantly increased following ultrasound, ranging from 24% to 56% for various findings," he said.
"Sonography appears to play a key role in helping rheumatologists determine whether or not disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) would be useful in patients who are difficult to assess clinically. Results from our study showed that there was a significant decrease in the use of these drugs when these patients had an ultrasound examination.
"Rheumatologists typically request plain radiographs as their primary imaging modality for rheumatologic diseases. However our study shows that ultrasound may play a more influential role," said Dr. Harish.
This study will be presented at the 2009 ARRS Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, on Wednesday, April 29. For a copy of the full study, please contact Heather Curry via email at hcurry@arrs.org.
About ARRS
The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) was founded in 1900 and is the oldest radiology society in the United States. Its monthly journal, the American Journal of Roentgenology, began publication in 1906. Radiologists from all over the world attend the ARRS annual meeting to participate in instructional courses, scientific paper presentations and scientific and commercial exhibits related to the field of radiology. The Society is named after the first Nobel Laureate in Physics, Wilhelm Röentgen, who discovered the x-ray in 1895.