Comparison of Angio PLanewave UltraSensitive and Power Doppler Ultrasound in Detecting Synovial Blood Flow in Wrist and Finger Joints of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to conduct a comparison between the newly introduced Angio PLanewave UltraSensitive (AngioPLUS) method and the power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) technique, evaluating the efficacy of these two methods in detecting synovial blood flow in wrist and finger joints of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Furthermore, the study aimed to investigate the potential associations between the observed blood flow patterns and various symptoms and indicators associated with RA. A cohort of 101 patients diagnosed with RA was included and subsequently categorized into two groups: 20 male participants (19.80%) and 81 female participants (80.20%). Their grayscale ultrasound, PDUS, and AngioPLUS were utilized to acquire data, and subsequent scoring was conducted. Serological tests of the patients were also performed, and DAS28 scores were calculated. The McNemar and Wilcoxon tests were used to compare the blood flow display rate and grading of PDUS as well as AngioPLUS, respectively. AngioPLUS blood was significantly improved compared to PDUS. In all joints, the proportion of slight and significant improvement in wrist joints was the highest (14.11% and 1.98%, respectively). AngioPLUS was moderately correlated with C-reactive Protein (CRP), Disease Activity Score that includes 28-joint counts, and swollen joint counts and weakly correlated with platelet, hemoglobin, tender joint counts, and CRP before and after treatment. Compared to PDUS, AngioPLUS has a better auxiliary diagnostic role in evaluating disease activity and can provide a reference to improve the management of RA further.