A common manifestation of many autoimmune diseases is joint inflammation. The degree of inflammation of the joints is often used as a metric of disease activity. Assessing disease activity has diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic implications. Inflammation of the joints is often used as a proxy for inflammation in other tissue, and assessing this inflammation has implications for the health of numerous organs in in the body. Currently, physicians use palpation of joints to assess for joint inflammation. This method, while accessible and easy to apply, is lacking in precision. Ultrasound has also been used to assess for joint inflammation for over 20 years, but applying ultrasound technology has proved challenging. There is lack of agreement on optimal joint view, which joints should be examined in which disease, and how inflammation should be graded. Various scanning protocols and grading schemes have been proposed, but each has its strengths and weaknesses.

Ultrasound Scoring of Joint Synovitis is based off the work of three authors who tackled the limitations of contemporary inflammation scoring systems, and developed an ultrasound-based inflammation scoring system which can be applied with consistency and reproducibility. In their research, the authors scanned thousands of joints and spent thousands of hours discussing the scans. They produced a scoring system which will allow the user of the atlas to grade joint inflammation in a way that is less subjective and more reproducible than the current systems used. Objective descriptions allow the user to quantify sonographic signs of joint inflammation with an intentional bias for the more clinically relevant features of ultrasound pathology. For students of musculoskeletal ultrasound, the book offers detailed descriptions of the sonographic appearance of every level of joint inflammation. For researchers, the book, and the system laid out in the book, are truly state-of-the-art and will enable better precision in research and clinical care of patients with joint inflammation.

Describes a state-of-the-art scoring system based on years of research done by the authors through hundreds of high-quality images placed parallel to easily digestible information Allows the user of the atlas to grade joint inflammation in a way that is more objective, more reproducible, and more clinically relevant, than the current systems used Takes into account the clinical implications of ultrasound pathology

Autorentext
Ami Ben-Artzi, MD, RhMSUS
Cedars Sinai Medical CenterBeverly Hills, CA 90211
Gurjit S. Kaeley, MD, RhMSUS
University of Florida
Jacksonville, FL 32209
Veena K. Ranganath, MD, MS, RhMSUS
UCLA Medical Center
Los Angeles, California 90095

Inhalt
Introduction.- Part 1: Wrist.- Chapter 1: Dorsal Longitudinal View of the Wrist.- Part 2: Radio Ulnar Joint.- Chapter 2: Dorsal Short View of the Radio Ulnar Joint.- Chapter 3: Dorsal Longitudinal View.- Part 3: Metacarpal Phalangeal Joint.- Chapter 4: Dorsal Longitudinal View of the Metacarpal Phalangeal Joint.- Chapter 5: Dorsal Short View of the Metacarpal Phalangeal Joint.- Chapter 6: Volar Longitudinal View of the Metacarpal Phalangeal Joint.- Part 4: Proximal Interphalangeal Phalangeal Joint.- Chapter 7: Dorsal Longitudinal View of the Proximal Interphalangeal Phalangeal Joint.- Chapter 8: Dorsal Short View of the Proximal Interphalangeal Phalangeal Joint.- Chapter 9: Volar Longitudinal View of the Proximal Interphalangeal Phalangeal Joint.- Part 5: Knee Joint.- Chapter 10: Medial Parapatellar Short View of the Knee Joint.- Chapter 11: Lateral Parapatellar Short View of the Knee Joint.- Part 6: Metatarsal Joint.- Chapter 12: Dorsal Longitudinal View.