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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2022; 32(02): 159-165
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1743116
Original Article

Role of Shear-Wave Elastography in Achilles Tendon in Psoriatic Arthritis and Its Correlation with Disease Severity Score, Psoriasis Area and Severity Index

Debajyoti Saha 
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
,
Mahesh Prakash
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
,
Anindita Sinha 
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
,
Tulika Singh
1   Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
,
Sunil Dogra
2   Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
,
Aman Sharma
3   Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
› Author Affiliations
Funding Sources This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study was to compare accuracy of shear-wave elastography (SWE) with gray scale (GS) ultrasound and power Doppler (pD) for diagnosing Achilles tendinopathy in psoriatic patients with and without arthritis and correlation with achillodynia and disease severity score, psoriasis area and severity index (PASI).

Methods A total of 100 Achilles tendons were evaluated where 56% were cases of psoriatic arthritis with achillodynia; 44% were controls of psoriasis without arthritis in this prospective study. Evaluation was done with GS, pD, SWE at proximal, mid, and distal third of the tendon. Qualitative (color maps) and quantitative data, elastic modulus, kilopascal (kPa), were generated. Pearson's correlation was done to see association between kPa, PASI and clinical symptoms, achillodynia, scored using visual analog scale (VAS).

Results Significant negative correlation was seen between duration of arthritis, VAS and PASI with SWE values with r = −0.34, −0.47, and −0.41, respectively. SWE could identify abnormal tendons in 71/100 (71%) in the overall study, 53/56 (94.6%) in cases, and 18/44 (40.9%) in control. The statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. In comparison, conventional ultrasound, GS, and pD together could identify 13/56 (23.21%) in cases and no abnormal tendon was identified in the control group.

Conclusion SWE is a reliable, noninvasive, and valuable tool to detect early tendinopathy and monitor progression of disease.

Keywords

Achilles tendinopathy - psoriasis - psoriasis area and severity index - psoriatic arthritis - shear-wave elastography - visual analog scale


Publication History

Article published online:
13 July 2022

© 2022. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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