Ultrasound scans should be used to predict progression of hand osteoarthritis

Ultrasound scans are a good – and currently underused – tool when it comes to establishing the progression of hand osteoarthritis says research in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Experts from Norway wanted to find out if ultrasound could predict the progression of hand osteoarthritis. So a total of 78 people were given conventional X-rays and clinically examined at the start of the study and then again five years later.
The experts found that radiographic progression occurred in 17.9% of joints and that ultrasound-detected inflammation did predict disease progression.
“This study supports the use of ultrasound as a tool to detect patients with hand osteoarthritis who are likely to progress,” the authors conclude.
A spokeswoman for Arthritis Research UK comments:
“Our research has shown that people who have inflammation, as shown on ultrasound, may develop more severe and progressive osteoarthritis and experience greater pain and disability. This study confirms the usefulness of this imaging technique in measuring progression of osteoarthritis affecting the hand.
“At the moment ultrasound is widely used as a diagnostic or prognostic tool, and osteoarthritis can only be identified by x-ray, which is limited to revealing changes to bones and degeneration of cartilage.”

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Image credit: Hamid Najafi