[Diagnostic accuracy of physical examination of the knee in rheumatoid arthritis: clinical and ultrasonographic study of joint effusion and BakerÕs cyst].

Introduction: In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), knee pain can be inflammatory, mechanical or extraarticular. The physical examination (PE) doesn't always detect the presence of knee joint effusion or Baker's cyst (BC) in the knees of these patients.

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of PE in the diagnosis of effusion and BC in patients with RA evaluated with musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS), using this technique as the gold standard for comparison.

Longitudinal power Doppler ultrasonographic assessment of joint inflammatory activity in early rheumatoid arthritis: predictive value in disease activity and radiologic progression.

Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity to change of power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) assessment of joint inflammation and the predictive value of PDUS parameters in disease activity and radiologic outcome in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Forty-two patients with early RA who started therapy with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs underwent blinded sequential clinical, laboratory, and ultrasound assessment at baseline, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year and radiographic assessment at baseline and 1 year. For each patient, 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) was recorded at each visit.

A randomized comparative study of short term response to blind injection versus sonographic-guided injection of local corticosteroids in patients with painful shoulder.

Objective: Local corticosteroid injections, commonly accepted by rheumatologists to be effective treating painful shoulder, have shown controversial results. High frequency ultrasonography is an accurate and safe imaging modality for guiding musculoskeletal injections. We prospectively compared the short term response to randomized blind injection versus sonographic-guided injection of local corticosteroid in patients with painful shoulder.