Ultrasonographic evaluation of joint involvement in early rheumatoid arthritis in clinical remission: power Doppler signal predicts short-term relapse

Abstract

In a cohort of early RA patients treated with conventional DMARDs, US-GS can detect residual disease activity more sensitively than clinical examination both in active disease and in remission. Moreover, PD-positive synovial hypertrophy identifies an ongoing inflammation even during remission and predicts short-term relapse.