Clinical, ultrasonography and sonoelastography assesment of peripheral enthesis in psoriatic arthritis

Clinical, ultrasonography and sonoelastography assesment of peripheral enthesis in psoriatic arthritis Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare clinical and ultrasonographic (US) and SWE evaluation of Achilles enthesitis in patients with Psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Materials and Methods: Volintary thirty-three patients with PsA (acording to internatinal criteria) followed by the Department of Rheumatology was studied. All patients underwent clinical and USG, SWE examinations. The USG examination performed for achilles tendon. Clinical and labaratory findings was used to evaluate disease activity. The relationship between clinical, ultrasonography and SWE data was determined by statistically using SPSS.20. Results: There was a significant relationship between the Achilles tendon thickness and SWE measurements of the patients gender. Achilles tendons of male patients were found to be thicker and harder. At the same time, as the Achilles tendon thickness of the patients increased, SWE values also increased. However, we didn't found any statistically significant relationship between other laboratory and clinical findings. Conclusion: SWE is a promising imaging method for determining the severity of diseases in various muscle and skeletal tissues, including tendons, muscles, nerves and ligaments, and following treatment. In this study, we investigated the relationship between disease activity assessed by clinical and laboratory data in patients with PsA USG and SWE findings of achilles tendon, however we did not find any significant correlation. However, we found that patients with increased Achilles tendon thickness had higher SWE values. SWE values can be used in the differential diagnosis of Achilles tendon involvement with PsA from other Achilles tendinopathies. Due to the limited number of patients and their diversity, controlled prospective studies with larger anatomical regions are needed to reach precise information on this subject. Keywords: Psoriatic arthritis; foot; achilles tendon; enhthesitis; arthritis; ultrasonography; shear-wave