Abstract
There is a consistent body of evidence supporting the role of ultrasound in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)1,2. More recently, ultrasound is gaining interest among rheumatologists for the assessment of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) disease3,4,5, because it has demonstrated high specificity in the detection of pathological findings indicative of pyrophosphate crystal deposits6,7,8. The definite diagnosis of CPPD disease requires identification of CPPD crystals in the synovial fluid by polarizing light microscopy. However, aspiration of the synovial fluid is not always possible for many reasons. In those cases, imaging modalities are important as surrogate diagnostic tools. We describe 2 cases showing the diagnostic potential of ultrasound in the detection of pyrophosphate crystal deposits in patients with negative radiographic evidence of cartilage calcifications. A 58-year-old woman presented to our clinic for a history of recurrent attacks of monoarthritis at right knee level, associated …
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