Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31630207›Full record

ArticleRheumatology (Oxford, England)2020

Synovitis in rheumatoid arthritis detected by grey scale ultrasound predicts the development of erosions over the next three years.

Burkhard Möller, Daniel Aletaha, Michael Andor, Andrew Atkinson, Bérengère Aubry-Rozier, Laure Brulhart, Diana Dan, Axel Finckh, Véronique Grobéty, Peter Mandl and 8 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

Burkhard MöllerRheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Daniel AletahaMedical Department III, Rheumatology, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Michael AndorProdorso, Zurich.
Andrew AtkinsonRheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Bérengère Aubry-RozierRheumatology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne.
Laure BrulhartRheumatology, Hôpital Neuchâtelois, La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Diana DanRheumatology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne.
Axel FinckhRheumatology, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva.
Véronique GrobétyVictoriaplatz Centre for Rheumatology, Bern.
Peter MandlMedical Department III, Rheumatology, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Raphael MicheroliRheumatology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich.
Michael John NissenRheumatology, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva.
Alexander M NydeggerRheumatology and Rehabilitation, Klinik Schloss Mammern, Mammern.
Almut SchererSCQM statistics group, Zurich.
Giorgio TamborriniBasel Institute for Locomotor System Ultrasound, Basel.
Hans-Rudolf ZiswilerOsteorheuma, Bern, Switzerland.
Pascal ZuffereyRheumatology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne.
SONAR group for musculoskeletal ultrasound in the Swiss Clinical Quality Management (SCQM) Foundation

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo evaluate grey scale US (GSUS) and power Doppler US synovitis (PDUS), separately or in combination (CombUS), to predict joint damage progression in RA.

methodsIn this cohort study nested in the Swiss RA register, all patients with sequential hand radiographs at their first US assessment were included. We analysed the summations of semi-quantitative GSUS, PDUS and CombUS assessments of both wrists and 16 finger joints (maximum 54 points) at their upper limit of normal, their 50th, 75th or 87.5th percentiles for the progression of joint damage (ΔXray). We adjusted for clinical disease activity measures at baseline, the use of biological DMARDs and other confounders.

resultsAfter a median of 35 months, 69 of 250 patients with CombUS (28%), 73 of 259 patients with PDUS (28%) and 75 of 287 patients with available GSUS data (26%) demonstrated joint damage progression. PDUS beyond upper limit of normal (1/54), GSUS and CombUS each at their 50th (9/54 and 10/54) and their 75th percentiles (14/54 and 15/54) were significantly associated with ΔXray in crude and adjusted models. In subgroup analyses, GSUS beyond 14/54 and CombUS higher than 15/54 remained significantly associated with ΔXray in patients on biological DMARDs, while clinical disease activity measures had no significant prognostic power in this subgroup.

conclusionHigher levels of GSUS and CombUS are associated with the development of erosions. GSUS appears to be an essential component of synovitis assessment and an independent predictor of joint damage progression in patients on biological DMARDs.

Indexed as

Disease ProgressionAgedAntirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidFemaleFinger JointHand BonesHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisRadiographySynovitisUltrasonographyUltrasonography, DopplerWrist JointAntirheumatic Agentsbiological therapieshandrheumatoid arthritissynoviumultrasonography

Identifiers

PMID31630207
PMCPMC7310093

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.