Ultrasound imaging for the rheumatologist XIV. Ultrasound imaging in connective tissue diseases.

Ultrasound (US) role is becoming more and more relevant in the assessment of rheumatic diseases but there are still some almost unexplored fields and, surely, one of these is represented by the great family of connective tissue diseases (CTD). In this review we provide an update of the available data regarding some applications of US in CTD. Besides an overview of the role of US in their musculoskeletal involvement, we will report data on the use of US in the evaluation of skin and lung in systemic sclerosis and of salivary glands in Sjögren's syndrome. US assessment of heart, kidney or vascular involvement in CTD will not be the subjects of this paper.