Value of Ultrasound for Evaluating Rheumatoid Arthritis in Remission: Longitudinal Study
Value of Ultrasound for Evaluating Rheumatoid Arthritis in Remission: Longitudinal Study
The objective of this study is to determine the longitudinal relation between clinical remission and ultrasound (US) remission in Rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
At a patient level, US-detected residual synovitis (evaluated both by US grey-scale signals and power Doppler signals) is frequent in patients with RA in clinical remission. Several longitudinal studies reveal an association of US-detected residual synovitis and risk of relapse and radiographic progression, in individual patients and joints, over 1-2 years.
However, the longitudinal relation between clinical remission and US remission is not so well-known and it is possible that clinical remission arrive before ultrasound remission. Thus arise the question as to whether the presence of US-detected residual synovitis require to adapt the treatment to ultrasound findings or to simply increase the patient care.
The investigator propose to conduct a prospective, bi-center, non randomized study.
The study population will include all RA patient at least 18 years old in clinical remission for less than 6 month.
The primary endpoint (ability of US-detected residual synovitis to predict relapse or radiographic progression in individual patients and joints) will be evaluated afer 12 months of follow-up The total follow-up will be 12 months with a follow-up every 3 months. In addition to the standard care, each follow-up will include an ultrasound examination of 40 joints and 8 tendons
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: