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High-frequency ultrasound of skin involvement in systemic sclerosis reflects oedema, extension and severity in early disease.

Hesselstrand, Roger LU ; Scheja, Agneta LU ; Wildt, Marie LU and Åkesson, Anita LU (2008) In Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 47(1). p.84-87
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare skin assessment by palpation and by high-frequency ultrasound in patients with SSc with disease duration <2 yrs. METHODS: Skin thickness and skin echogenicity were measured by 20 MHz ultrasound at five different anatomical sites in 106 individuals within 2 yrs from the first non-Raynaud's symptom and compared with the modified Rodnan skin score (mRss). RESULTS: The patients with short disease duration were characterized by high skin thickness and low skin echogenicity, which correlated inversely, reflecting oedema. Patients with diffuse skin involvement displayed higher skin thickness and lower skin echogenicity than did patients with limited skin involvement. The ultrasound measurements correlated to... (More)
OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare skin assessment by palpation and by high-frequency ultrasound in patients with SSc with disease duration <2 yrs. METHODS: Skin thickness and skin echogenicity were measured by 20 MHz ultrasound at five different anatomical sites in 106 individuals within 2 yrs from the first non-Raynaud's symptom and compared with the modified Rodnan skin score (mRss). RESULTS: The patients with short disease duration were characterized by high skin thickness and low skin echogenicity, which correlated inversely, reflecting oedema. Patients with diffuse skin involvement displayed higher skin thickness and lower skin echogenicity than did patients with limited skin involvement. The ultrasound measurements correlated to the local mRss from the corresponding anatomical region and also to the total mRss. However, there was a considerable overlap in both skin thickness and skin echogenicity between different local mRss at all five anatomical sites. Skin involvement of the chest could be detected earlier by ultrasound than by palpation. CONCLUSION: In SSc patients with short disease duration, high-frequency ultrasound can identify the oedematous phase that may precede palpable skin involvement and may thus be useful to identify patients with diffuse skin involvement very early in the disease process. Ultrasound measurements also reflect the severity of the overall skin involvement. (Less)
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publication status
published
subject
keywords
Skin: physiopathology, Skin: pathology, Scleroderma, Systemic: physiopathology, Palpation: methods, Systemic: diagnosis, Leg: pathology, Leg: ultrasonography, Forearm: ultrasonography, Forearm: parasitology, Fingers: ultrasonography, Edema: physiopathology, Fingers: pathology, Skin: ultrasonography, Thorax: pathology, Ultrasonography: methods, Thorax: ultrasonography, Edema: diagnosis
in
Rheumatology (Oxford, England)
volume
47
issue
1
pages
84 - 87
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:18077496
  • wos:000251679900018
  • scopus:37348999025
  • pmid:18077496
ISSN
1462-0332
DOI
10.1093/rheumatology/kem307
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cc4d92df-2136-47ec-a7fa-4f6a92661487 (old id 1035324)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18077496?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:40:55
date last changed
2022-04-22 04:35:19
@article{cc4d92df-2136-47ec-a7fa-4f6a92661487,
  abstract     = {{OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare skin assessment by palpation and by high-frequency ultrasound in patients with SSc with disease duration &lt;2 yrs. METHODS: Skin thickness and skin echogenicity were measured by 20 MHz ultrasound at five different anatomical sites in 106 individuals within 2 yrs from the first non-Raynaud's symptom and compared with the modified Rodnan skin score (mRss). RESULTS: The patients with short disease duration were characterized by high skin thickness and low skin echogenicity, which correlated inversely, reflecting oedema. Patients with diffuse skin involvement displayed higher skin thickness and lower skin echogenicity than did patients with limited skin involvement. The ultrasound measurements correlated to the local mRss from the corresponding anatomical region and also to the total mRss. However, there was a considerable overlap in both skin thickness and skin echogenicity between different local mRss at all five anatomical sites. Skin involvement of the chest could be detected earlier by ultrasound than by palpation. CONCLUSION: In SSc patients with short disease duration, high-frequency ultrasound can identify the oedematous phase that may precede palpable skin involvement and may thus be useful to identify patients with diffuse skin involvement very early in the disease process. Ultrasound measurements also reflect the severity of the overall skin involvement.}},
  author       = {{Hesselstrand, Roger and Scheja, Agneta and Wildt, Marie and Åkesson, Anita}},
  issn         = {{1462-0332}},
  keywords     = {{Skin: physiopathology; Skin: pathology; Scleroderma; Systemic: physiopathology; Palpation: methods; Systemic: diagnosis; Leg: pathology; Leg: ultrasonography; Forearm: ultrasonography; Forearm: parasitology; Fingers: ultrasonography; Edema: physiopathology; Fingers: pathology; Skin: ultrasonography; Thorax: pathology; Ultrasonography: methods; Thorax: ultrasonography; Edema: diagnosis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{84--87}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Rheumatology (Oxford, England)}},
  title        = {{High-frequency ultrasound of skin involvement in systemic sclerosis reflects oedema, extension and severity in early disease.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/kem307}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/rheumatology/kem307}},
  volume       = {{47}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}