Table 2.
Specification of US in selected study
| Study | Machine | Probe | Mode | Synovitis (scoring method) | Tenosynovitis (scoring method) | Erosion | Locations scanned | One side (1)/both sides (2) | Total number of joints | Volar/dorsal side | Cut-off/threshold def. “inflammation US score” | Positive “inflammation US score”, % total group (progressors, non-progressors) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rakieh et al. 2015 [11] | Philips ATL HDI 5000 | 12–5 MHz and 8–15 MHz | PDUS | Yes (0–3) [16, 19] | ND | ND |
Wrist
MCP I-V PIP I-V |
2 | 22 | NP | PDUS ≥ 1 | 33.0 (44.0, 22.0) |
| Nam et al. 2016 [10] | Philips ATL HDI 5000 and General Electric S7 | 5–12 and 8–15 MHz (Philips); 6–15 MHz (GE) | GSUS and PDUS | Yes (0–3; for both GSUS and PDUS) [22] | ND | Yes (0/1) |
Wrist
MCP I-V PIP I-V MTP I-V |
2 | 32 | Dorsal | None |
GSUS = 0: 4.4 (1.8, 6.3)
GSUS = 1: 27.9 (21.1, 32.9) GSUS ≥ 2: 67.6 (77.2, 60.8) PDUS = 0: 66.9 (50.9, 78.5) PDUS = 1: 18.4 (22.8, 15.2) PDUS = 2: 14.7 (26.3, 6.3) ERO = 0: 79.4 (64.9, 89.9) ERO = 1: 20.6 (35.1, 10.1) |
| van der Ven et al. 2017 [8] | Mylab 60 (Esaote, Genoa, Italy) | 10–18 MHz | GSUS and PDUS | Yes (0–3; for both GSUS and PDUS) [15] | ND | ND |
Wrist
MCP II-V PIP II-V MTP II-V |
2 | 26 | Dorsal |
a. Positive synovitis: GSUS ≥ 2 and/or PDUS ≥ 1
b. PDUS score: ≥ 1 |
a. 35.6 (54.8, 31.5)
b. 14.9 (29.0, 11.9) |
| van de Stadt et al. 2010 [12] | Acuson Antares, premium edition (Siemens, Malvern, PA, USA) | 5–13 MHz | GSUS and PDUS | Yes (0–3; for both GSUS and PDUS) [13] | Yes (0–3) | ND | Only tender joints* | 2 | NA | Volar | PDUS ≥ 1 Joint effusion, synovitis, tenosynovitis ≥ 2 |
GSUS synovitis ≥ 2: 12.5 (15.6, 11.6) GSUS effusion ≥ 2: 11.5 (17.7, 9.5) PDUS ≥ 1: 17.2 (22.2, 15.6) Tenosynovitis ≥ 2: 6.8 (8.9, 6.1) |
| Pratt et al. 2013 [9] | Aplio Diagnostic Ultrasound System (Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, Tochigi-Ken, Japan) | 12 MHz | GSUS and PDUS | Yes (0–3; for both GSUS and PDUS) [13–15, 20] | ND | Yes (0–3) | MCP II-IV PIP II-IV MTP I-II |
2 | 16 | Dorsal and volar | GSUS: a. sum score ≥ 2; b. sum score/6 joints (worst hand) ≥ 2; c. number of joints ≥ 1: ≥ 3. PDUS: d. sum score ≥ 1; e. number of joints ≥ 1: ≥ 2 |
a. 35.1 (56.2, 19.4) b. 29.6 (48.8, 15.0) c. 30.1 (50.6, 14.7) d. 29.0 (46.9, 15.7) e. 16.9 (29.6, 7.4) |
| Zufferey et al. 2017 [7] | Philips HD 11 | 7–13 MHz | GSUS | Yes (0–3) [17, 18] | ND | ND | Wrist MCP II-V PIP II-V Elbows Knees |
2 | 22 | NP | a. B-mode score > 8 (of total possible score of 66). b. ≥ 2 joints (of total number of 22 joints) with grade ≥ 2 synovitis [18] |
a. 21.3 (57.1, 17.8) b. 25.0 (71.4, 20.5) |
Studies marked in bold are scored as high-quality (high-quality study > 80% (which is the median of all quality scores))
ERO erosions, GSUS greyscale ultrasound, MCP metacarpophalangeal joint, MHz megahertz, MTP metatarsophalangeal joint, NA not applicable, ND not done, NP not presented, PIP proximal interphalangeal joint, PDUS power Doppler, US ultrasound
*Tender joints at physical examination were scanned, otherwise joints that were painful by history were scanned. For MCP, PIP, and MTP joints the directly adjacent joints in the same joint group as the painful joints were scanned