Normally associated with pregnancy, the sonogram and the ultrasound have shown great promise in the detection of rheumatoid arthritis, and in monitoring the disease once a diagnosis is reached. Where a regular x-ray might not always detect damage to the tendons, the cartilage, sonograms are able to detect these, and damage and deterioration to the bones earlier than x-rays. A sonogram can also detect the inflammation of the joint lining known as synovitis.
Sonographic imaging allows medical technicians to observe the blood flow around the joints, which reveals inflammation in its early stages, sometimes before the patient feels any discomfort. Early detection is the best hope of a positive prognosis. Strides are being made in probe technology whereby power Doppler ultrasound can measure fluid retention in the joints, inflammation of the synovial tissue, and damage to the bones and cartilage on a much finer scale. Technicians can now observe these early symptoms of RA in as little as 0.2 millimeters of tissue.
Power Doppler ultrasounds allow your healthcare provider to monitor the progress of RA more accurately than MRIs or x-rays. While the two latter technologies are apt to diagnose RA, only power Doppler ultrasound is precise enough to yield readable images which allow for the observation of much subtler progress or deterioration. They also have fewer side affects than frequent x-ray exposure.
This early detection makes a more effective treatment possible, and as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs are also becoming more widely used, their efficacy can me more closely monitored, and adjustments in treatment can be made if necessary. Ideally these drugs are meant to regulate the blood flow to the tissues surrounding the joints, thus treating RA at the vascular level. In the best-case scenarios, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs can prevent synovial inflammation and edema in the bone marrow, as well as stopping and preventing further deterioration of the bone. The increasing use of power Doppler ultrasounds does not, however, render the MRI obsolete. On the contrary, fusion imaging combines the two systems to further improve the monitoring of synovial inflammation and the patience response to treatment.
3D ultrasounds are beginning to get more attentio, as they are able to provide a multiple-perspective image of tissues that might be overlooked in a conventional ultrasound image. 3D ultrasound technology is somewhat slow to catch on, because of the delicacy of the scanning process, which requires the probe to be positively still while the image is generated. 3D ultrasound imagery has the additional advantage of making visible new blood vessels around the joints: a sign of great success in the treatment of RA. As power Doppler ultrasound becomes more dominant in the observation, diagnosis, and treatment of RA, studies in 3D ultrasound technology will continue, thus increasing the likelihood of a broader availability of this method of imaging in the near future. The ability to generate multiple images of tissue affected by RA, along with progress in the development of anti-rheumatic drugs may result in a positive shift in the prognosis of RA sufferers.
Author Resource:-
www.OSC-Ortho.com treats patients from across the country and especially Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. Click this link for more information on carpal tunnel treatment.
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