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Sclerodermic hand: a retrospective study on the role of ultrasonography in the detection of subclinical joint involvement

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Abstract

Introduction

The inflammatory involvement of joints and tendons is common in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). Ultrasonography (US) is a non-invasive tool commonly applied for the assessment of the main inflammatory arthropathies and could be also used in identifying pathological features in SSc patients, even without clinical evidence of joint complaint. So, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of US pathological features in a cohort of SSc patients and assessed the role of US in the detection of subclinical joint involvement.

Methods

In this retrospective study, we collected data about the prevalence of US pathological features at the level of hands and wrists in a cohort of patients with a definite diagnosis of SSc, submitted to an ultrasound examination of hands and wrists according to the clinician’s opinion, with or without joint involvement symptoms, in order to assess the US ability in detecting subclinical inflammatory signs in SSc patients.

Results

In total, 47.5% of patients reported at least one US pathological feature. The most common was synovial hypertrophy (62.1%). Other assessed lesions were effusion (48%), tenosynovitis (37.9%), power Doppler (PD) signal (31.0%), and erosions (0.7%). Effusion and PD signal appeared significantly higher in symptomatic patients, with a p<0.01 and p=0.045, respectively.

Conclusions

In this cohort of SSc subjects, almost the half of the US-positive patients were clinically asymptomatic. Therefore, the application of US could be useful to detect the musculoskeletal involvement of SSc patients, a potential markers of disease severity. Further studies are required to assess the role of US in monitoring SSc patients.

Key Points

• The inflammatory involvement of joints and/or tendons is common in systemic sclerosis (SSc) but could be partially covered by other disease features.

• Among the diagnostic methods able to increase the sensitivity of the musculoskeletal evaluation, Ultrasonography (US) is one of the most promising to reveal subclinical inflammation and predict the joint damage progression.

• We retrospectively investigated the prevalence of US pathological features in a cohort of SSc patients, with or without symptoms of joint involvement, assessing the role of US in the detection of subclinical joint involvement.

• We found that joint and tendon involvement, a potential marker of disease severity, is common in SSc.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Editorial assistance was provided by Simonetta Papa, PhD, Valentina Attanasio and Aashni Shah (Polistudium SRL, Milan, Italy). This assistance was supported by internal funds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SC Reumatologia, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy

    Clizia Gagliardi, Antonella Adinolfi, Laura Belloli, Nicola Ughi & Oscar Massimiliano Epis

  2. UOC Reumatologia, ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco, Ospedale Luigi Sacco, Milan, Italy

    Maria Eva Romano

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Correspondence to Antonella Adinolfi.

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The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments and within the protocol notified to the Ethics Committee Milano Area 3 (register number 427-09201). A written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Gagliardi, C., Adinolfi, A., Belloli, L. et al. Sclerodermic hand: a retrospective study on the role of ultrasonography in the detection of subclinical joint involvement. Clin Rheumatol 42, 2873–2879 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-023-06668-8

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