AUTHOR=Duquenne Laurence , Chowdhury Rahaymin , Mankia Kulveer , Emery Paul 

TITLE=The Role of Ultrasound Across the Inflammatory Arthritis Continuum: Focus on “At-Risk” Individuals

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2020.587827

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2020.587827

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=In individuals at-risk of developing inflammatory arthritis, the value of an ultrasound assessment to predict disease progression has been demonstrated repeatedly. However, at-risk individuals may be identified and assessed at different stages in the arthritis continuum, therefore representing a heterogeneous population. As a consequence, the predictive value of an ultrasound assessment may differ between cohorts. In this review, we discuss the use of ultrasound in the different at-risk populations across the inflammatory arthritis disease continuum.This review demonstrates that US has been used more frequently in at-risk individuals with symptoms compared with asymptomatic at-risk populations. The data suggests, ultrasound is most useful in three at-risk populations: those with a positive ACPA test in the context of non-specific MSK symptoms, those with clinically suspect arthralgia and those with palindromic rheumatism. The predictive value of an ultrasound assessment suggests it will be a cornerstone of risk prediction modelling and prevention studies of inflammatory arthritis in the future.