The use of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of nail disease among patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: a systematic review

Abstract Background: Nail involvement has been described as a key clinical feature for both psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and is an important risk factor in PsA. Thus, early diagnosis of nail involvement may be essential for better management of PsO and PsA. Ultrasonography is considered a highly promising method to visualize nail disease. The main aim of this review was to evaluate the use of ultrasonography for the diagnosis of nail disease in patients with PsO and PsA by reviewing ultrasound parameters with the best diagnostic accuracy. Main body of the abstract: A systematic search was performed in MEDLINE via the PubMed and LILACS databases. Conference proceedings of relevant rheumatology scientific meetings were also screened. Results: After applying eligibility criteria, only 13 articles and 5 abstracts were included in this review. The selected studies showed a huge variability in evaluation methods (and therefore in the results) and were mainly focused on the assessment of nails ultrasound parameters that may differ among patients and healthy controls, especially the morphological aspects in B-mode ultrasonography and vascularization of the nail bed by Doppler ultrasonography. Our research indicated that the evaluation of nail disease in PsO and PsA is still underrepresented in the literature, probably reflecting a restricted use in clinical practice, despite the widespread use of ultrasonography in the management of chronic arthritis. Short conclusions: Despite the potential relevance of ultrasonography for the diagnosis of nail disease, additional studies are needed to determine which features are more reliable and clinically pertinent to ensure accuracy in the evaluation of nail involvement in PsO and PsA.

Ensayo pictórico: Imágenes en trasplante de páncreas: ¿qué debemos buscar? / Pictorial essay: Imaging in pancreas transplants: what should we look for?

El trasplante de páncreas es una alternativa terapéutica para pacientes diabéticos con complicaciones metabólicas severas y/o enfermedad renal crónica terminal. En el 80% de los casos, se realiza trasplante simultáneo de páncreas y riñón. El ultrasonido (US) es la técnica de elección para una primera evaluación del injerto, principalmente el modo Doppler espectral. Este último permite la evaluación de la vasculatura y perfusión de injerto. La tomografía computada (TC) y resonancia magnética (RM) se reservan para la evaluación de complicaciones (Tabla 1). Se realizó una revisión retrospectiva de una serie casos de trasplante páncreas-riñón realizada en nuestra institución entre los años 2014 y 2017, con un total de 12 casos.

Pancreas transplantation is a therapeutic alternative for diabetic patients with severe metabolic complications and/or terminal chronic kidney disease. In 80% of cases, a simultaneous transplant of pancreas and kidney is performed. Ultrasound (US) is the technique of choice for a first evaluation of the implant, mainly the spectral Doppler mode, which allows evaluation of the graft vasculature and perfusion. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are reserved for the evaluation of complications (Table). A retrospective review of a series of cases of pancreas-kidney transplantation performed at our institution between 2014 and 2017 was carried out, with a total of 12 cases.

Evaluation of oral submucous fibrosis using ultrasonographic technique: A new diagnostic tool.

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) by clinical and histopathological examination, and compare the results with those from ultrasonographic technique. Materials and Methods: 30 clinically diagnosed OSMF patients were subjected to both ultrasonographic and histopathological evaluation before treatment. Later, only ultrasonographical examination was done during 4 th and 8 th week of treatment. Prognosis of the lesion for the treatment was evaluated. Peak systolic velocity (PSV) of blood in the lesional area was statistically analyzed. 10 normal individuals without any mucosal lesions were considered as the control group. Results: In normal individuals, ultrasonography delineates normal mucosa with uniform fine mottled appearance with interspersed hypoechoic areas. Color Doppler and spectral Doppler depicts uniform distribution of blood vessels and normal peak systolic velocity of blood respectively. All OSMF patients were diagnosed upon clinical and histopathological examination. Clinical examination revealed 14 individuals with unilateral palpable fibrotic bands and 16 individuals with bilateral fibrotic bands whereas, ultrasonographic evaluation revealed 6 individuals with unilateral fibrotic bands and 24 individuals were with bilateral fibrotic bands, which was statistically significant. Ultrasonography demonstrated number, length and thickness of the fibrotic bands. Color Doppler and spectral Doppler showed decreased vascularity and PSV in lesional area. Prognosis evaluation revealed 25 cases of good prognosis and 5 cases were showed poor prognosis. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test revealed no significant difference of PSV was seen in poor prognosis patients. Conclusion: Ultrasonography is a non-invasive diagnostic tool for OSMF. It could be a better diagnostic tool compared to clinical and histopathological examination.