Power Doppler ultrasonographic assessment of the ankle in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Ankle involvement is frequent in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases, but accurate evaluation by physical examination is often difficult because of the complex anatomical structures of the ankle. Over the last decade, ultrasound (US) has become a practical imaging tool for the assessment of articular and periarticular pathologies, including joint synovitis, tenosynovitis, and enthesitis in rheumatic diseases. Progress in power Doppler (PD) technology has enabled evaluation of the strength of ongoing inflammation. PDUS is very useful for identifying the location and kind of pathologies in rheumatic ankles as well as for distinguishing between inflammatory processes and degenerative changes or between active inflammation and residual damage. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the US assessment of ankle lesions in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus, focusing on the utility of PDUS.