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Multimodal photoacoustic/ultrasonic imaging system: a promising imaging method for the evaluation of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis
Objectives We aimed to assess the clinical value of multimodal photoacoustic/ultrasound (PA/US) articular imaging scores, a novel imaging method which can reflect the micro-vessels and oxygenation level of inflamed joints of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods Seven small joints were examined by the...
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Published in: | European radiology 2021-05, Vol.31 (5), p.3542-3552 |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Objectives
We aimed to assess the clinical value of multimodal photoacoustic/ultrasound (PA/US) articular imaging scores, a novel imaging method which can reflect the micro-vessels and oxygenation level of inflamed joints of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods
Seven small joints were examined by the PA/US imaging system. A 0–3 scoring system was used to semi-quantify the PA and power-Doppler (PD) signals, and the sums of PA and PD scores (PA-sum and PD-sum scores) of the seven joints were calculated. The relative oxygen saturation (SO
2
) values of the inflamed joints were measured and classified into 3 PA+SO
2
patterns. The correlations between the PA/US imaging scores and the disease activity scores were assessed.
Results
Thirty-one patients of RA and a total of 217 joints were examined using the PA/US system. The PA-sum had high positive correlations with the standard clinical scores of RA (DAS28 [ESR]
ρ
= 0.754, DAS28 [CRP]
ρ
= 0.796, SDAI
ρ
= 0.836, CDAI
ρ
= 0.837,
p
< 0.001), which were superior to the PD-sum (DAS28 [ESR]
ρ
= 0.651, DAS28 [CRP]
ρ
= 0.676, SDAI
ρ
= 0.716, CDAI
ρ
= 0.709,
p
< 0.001). For the patients with high PA-sum scores, significant differences between hypoxia and hyperoxia were identified in pain visual analog score (
p
= 0.020) and patient’s global assessment (
p
= 0.026). The PA+SO
2
patterns presented moderate and high correlation with PGA (
ρ
= 0.477,
p
= 0.0077) and VAS pain score (
ρ
= 0.717,
p
< 0.001).
Conclusion
The PA scores have significant correlations with standard clinical scores for RA, and the PA+SO
2
patterns are also related with clinical scores that reflect pain severity. PA may have clinical potential in evaluating RA.
Key Points
• Multimodal photoacoustic/ultrasound imaging is a novel method to assess micro-vessels and oxygenation of local lesions.
• Significant correlations between multimodal imaging parameters and clinical scores of RA patients were verified.
• The multimodal PA/US system can provide objective imaging parameters, including PA scores of micro-vessels and relative SO
2
value, as a supplementary to disease activity evaluation. |
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ISSN: | 0938-7994 1432-1084 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00330-020-07353-z |