[Musculoskeletal ultrasound I - «pearls and crystals»].

This article reviews the applications of high resolution ultrasound (HRUS) which were discussed at the SGUM congress in Davos in the talk «pearls and crystals». Sonography is an excellent and validated tool in the diagnostics and assessment e.g. of spondylo-arthritis and crystal deposition diseases. Enthesitis is a typical feature of SpA. The Sensitivity of HRUS diagnosing enthesitis is higher compared to the clinical examination. High frequency US probes allow furthermore an accurate assessment in crystal deposition diseases. Sonography is able to detect various typical pathologies in gout, pseudogout and apatite deposition disease. Will HRUS in the near future be able to replace microscopy in the diagnostics of crystal deposition diseases?