The following is a summary of “Could ultrasound and muscle elastography be associated with clinical assessment, laboratory and nailfold capillaroscopy in juvenile dermatomyositis patients?,” published in the October 2023 issue of Rheumatology by Andrade et al.
Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) muscle assessment with ultrasonography (US) is a promising tool for detecting disease activity and tissue damage. Researchers started a retrospective study to correlate clinical, laboratory, and nailfold capillaroscopy (NC) assessments with US findings and to compare US and strain elastography (SE) findings in JDM patients and healthy controls.
They conducted an analytic cross-sectional study involving JDM patients and healthy controls. The patients underwent a clinical examination to evaluate muscle strength and completed questionnaires about disease assessment and functional capacity. Additionally, they underwent nerve conduction testing and measurement of muscle enzymes. All subjects received ultrasound assessments, including grayscale, Power Doppler (PD), and strain elastography (SE).
The results showed 22 JDM patients and 14 age- and sex-matched controls, ranging from 5 to 21 years old. In qualitative and semi-quantitative grayscale assessments, patients exhibited a significantly higher frequency of alterations (P<0.001). In PD assessments, patients showed a higher frequency of positivity in their deltoids and anterior tibialis (P<0.001). Active disease correlated with significant changes in the semi-quantitative grayscale for deltoids (P=0.007), biceps brachii (P=0.001), and quadriceps femoris (P=0.005). SE has a strong 87.2% negative predictive value, effectively ruling out disease when the test is negative.
Investigators concluded that US grayscale differentiated JDM patients from controls, while PD and SE did not.
Source: advancesinrhiieumatology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42358-023-00330-2