Role of high resolution Ultrasonography in peripheral enthesopathy in patients with spondyloarthritis

Abstract

Spondyloarthritis is a group of interrelated disorders which can also be split into patients with predominantly axial and predominantly peripheral SpA with an overlap between the 2subgroups . It is featured with inflammatory enthesitis which is considered the primary lesion in all SpA disorders. Enthesitis is included in Assessment of Spondylo Arthritis International Society (ASAS) classification criteria for axial and peripheral SpA. Peripheral enthesitis is usually detected by clinical findings as pain, tenderness and swelling. Clinical examination of enthesitis is considered a problem, as it lacks sensitivity and reliability and not always detected by clinical examination. Nowadays, MSUS is sensitive and noninvasive tool which can be used to identify the features of enthesitis in patients with SpA. Combined gray scale and power Doppler technology improves the assessment of US to enthesitis as power Doppler can visualize abnormal vascularization and hyperemia in inflamed enthesitis and so that increase specificity and sensitivity of US for determination of SpA. The aim of our work is to to assess the value of using high resolution Ultrasonography for diagnosis of enthesopathy in SpA patients and finding the relation to clinical assessment of enthesopathy. Our study was carried on 20 patients aged between 28 and 68 years and fulfill ASAS classification criteria for