SonoKids RHEUM

Ultrasonography is an imaging modality that has been utilised in clinical medicine since the 1950s. However, application to joints and rheumatic disease was delayed until appropriate advances in technology made it feasible. Since the 1990s, rheumatologists have embraced ultrasonography as a useful clinical tool and it has increasingly been applied in routine practice. Initial criticism correctly focused on a lack of validity data, recognition that this modality is highly user-dependent and that reliability was not established...

BACKGROUND: Loss of joint cartilage is a feature of destructive disease in JIA. The cartilage of most joints can be visualized with ultrasonography (US). Our present study focuses on discriminant validity of US in children. We studied reproducibility between and within a skilled and a non-skilled investigator of US assessment of cartilage thickness in small and large joints in healthy children. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 11 healthy children (5 girls/6 boys), aged 9...