ArticleAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2019
Ultra-low-dose CT detects synovitis in patients with suspected rheumatoid arthritis.
Article in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ultra-low-dose CT in extremity fracture detection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Emergency radiology · 2026Pooled it
- Perfusion in hand arthritis on dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography: a randomized prospective study using MRI as a standard of reference.Skeletal radiology · 2021Trial
- Clinical Impact of Multiparametric Contrast-Enhanced Dual-Energy Computed Tomography in Arthritis Imaging: A Prospective Single-Center Study.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Article
- Reactive arthritis: a comprehensive journey through diagnostic findings.Skeletal radiology · 2025Review
- Optimizing contrast timing in photon-counting detector CT for the assessment of peripheral arthritis.Skeletal radiology · 2025Article
- Current and future role of CT and advanced CT applications in inflammatory arthritis in the clinic and trials.Skeletal radiology · 2025Review
- Rheumatoid Arthritis: Biomarkers and the Latest Breakthroughs.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Diagnostic utility and clinical relevance of anti-MCV and anti-CCP antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2025Article
- Feasibility of rib fracture detection in low-dose computed tomography images with a large, multicenter datasets-based model.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Computed tomography-current status and future directions for arthritis imaging.Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2024Review
- Integrated metabolomics and network analysis reveal changes in lipid metabolisms of tripterygium glycosides tablets in rats with collagen-induced arthritis.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2023Article
- Four-dimensional computed tomography detects dynamic three-dimensional pathologies of the wrist in patients with calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Article
- Virtual Monochromatic Images from Dual-Energy Computed Tomography Do Not Improve the Detection of Synovitis in Hand Arthritis.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Future of Low-Dose Computed Tomography and Dual-Energy Computed Tomography in Axial Spondyloarthritis.Current rheumatology reports · 2022Review
- Article
- [Ultrasound of the hand-clinical indications].Der Radiologe · 2021Review
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo prove the feasibility and measure the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultra-low-dose CT (ULD-CT) for the depiction of inflammatory soft-tissue changes (synovitis, tenosynovitis and peritendonitis) in patients with arthritis of the hand. MATERIALS AND
methodsIn this institutional review board-approved study, 36 consecutive patients over the age of 50 with suspected rheumatoid arthritis underwent ULD-CT (estimated radiation exposure <0.01 mSv) and MRI of the hand with weight-adapted intravenous contrast administration. ULD-CT subtraction and MR images were assessed for synovitis, tenosynovitis and peritendonitis by three readers using a modified Rheumatoid Arthritis MRI Score (RAMRIS). Patients were asked which modality they would prefer for future examinations. Sensitivity and specificity of ULD-CT for detection of inflammatory changes were calculated using MRI as standard of reference. The sum scores were correlated using Pearson's r.
resultsAll 36 patients showed synovitis in MRI. ULD-CT had 69% sensitivity on the patient level and 65% on the joint level with 87% specificity. Sensitivity was higher in patients with more severe inflammation (80% for MRI RAMRIS >1). There was almost perfect correlation between the modified RAMRIS sum scores of ULD-CT and MRI (Pearson's r=0.94). Regarding preferences for future examinations, 85% preferred ULD-CT over MRI. ULD-CT detected more differential diagnoses than MRI (8 vs 2/12).
conclusionContrast-enhanced ULD-CT of the hand allows for depiction of soft-tissue inflammation at the hand and can be achieved using very low radiation exposure (<0.01 mSv). ULD-CT may evolve to a fast and comfortable alternative to MRI, although it is not as sensitive as MRI for detecting mild disease.
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