Application Of Ultrasound In The Diagnosis Of Rheumatoid Arthritis In Clinical

Objective：To investigate the value of ultrasonography in evaluating thediagnosis of Rheumatoid arthritis（RA）.Methods：Totally77suspected RA patients were enrolled and divided intoultrasound group and clinical group. Ultrasound and clinical methods wereused respectively to diagnose RA using double-blind method. Ultrasoundwas used to detect seven joints including ipsilateral wrist, the second andthird metacarpophalangeal joints, the second and third proximalinterphalangeal joint, and the second and fifth metatarsophalangeal joints.Synovial hyperplasia, the synovial blood signal, bone erosion and jointeffusion of ultrasound were used to diagnose synovial lesions of RA. Bothultrasound method and clinical method were compared by comparativeanalysis. At the same time, these four indicators were scored by theserological indicators.Results：Fifty-five cases of RA and22cases of non-RA were diagnosed byultrasound while53cases of RA and24cases of non-RA were diagnosed by clinical method. There was no statistical significance between promptdiagnosis method and clinical method in diagnosing RA (P=0.774). Therewas a close correlation between sum scores of synovial blood flow, sumscore of effusion and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r=0.739,P=0.000;r=0.564, P=0.000). Conclusion：Four indicators of ultrasound accords withclinical method in the diagnosis of RA. There is a close correlation betweensum scores of synovial blood flow, sum score of effusion and serologicalindicators. Ultrasound, as a screening method for RA, provides moreevidences for the diagnosis for RA, therefore should be widely applied.Cnoclusion:(1) High-frequency ultrasound can be more clearly show bonedestruction, joint effusion, synovial proliferation and the proliferation ofsynovial blood flow signals and ultrasound classification.(2) Four indicators of ultrasound accords with clinical method in thediagnosis of RA. There is a close correlation between sum scores ofsynovial blood flow, sum score of effusion and serological indicators.Ultrasound, as a screening method for RA, provides more evidences for thediagnosis for RA, therefore should be widely applied.(3) Some patients ultrasound examination results could come earlythan the laboratory diagnoses.