Department of Radiology, Medicine Faculty of Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey.
Division of Rheumatology, Department of Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation, Medicine Faculty of Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey.
J Clin Ultrasound. 2024 Jul-Aug;52(6):731-736. doi: 10.1002/jcu.23699. Epub 2024 Apr 18.
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) can cause peripheral arthritis, tendinitis, enthesitis, and axial skeletal involvement. This study aims to determine early tendon damage by shear wave elastography (SWE) for the Achilles tendon in AS patients.
48 AS patients and 48 asymptomatic individuals were included in the study. Participants were systematically examined with B-mode, power Doppler, and SWE using a high-resolution linear 6-15 MHz probe. Bilateral Achilles tendon stiffness, thickness, and vascularity were evaluated. Measurements were taken from the middle third of the Achilles tendon in the sagittal plane. Difference between the two groups was evaluated with statistical methods. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to test the diagnostic performance of Achilles tendon stiffness. Additionally, the Spearman correlation test examined the relationship between Achilles tendon stiffness and disease duration.
The difference between the two groups regarding Achilles tendon stiffness was statistically significant (p < 0.05). It was observed that Achilles tendon stiffness decreased in the patient group compared with the control group. The diagnostic value of Achilles tendon stiffness measured by SWE was found to be high. A negative correlation was detected between disease duration and tendon stiffness (p < 0.05).
In patients diagnosed with AS, deterioration in the Achilles tendon structure was observed, and a significant decrease in tendon stiffness compared with the healthy population. It has been determined that these changes in the Achilles tendon are related to the duration of the disease.
强直性脊柱炎（AS）可引起外周关节炎、肌腱炎、附着点炎和轴性骨骼受累。本研究旨在通过剪切波弹性成像（SWE）确定 AS 患者跟腱的早期肌腱损伤。
本研究纳入 48 例 AS 患者和 48 名无症状个体。使用高分辨率线性 6-15MHz 探头对参与者进行 B 型、功率多普勒和 SWE 系统检查。评估双侧跟腱的硬度、厚度和血管生成。测量在跟腱中矢状面的中部进行。采用统计学方法比较两组之间的差异。通过接收者操作特征分析测试跟腱硬度的诊断性能。此外，Spearman 相关检验检查了跟腱硬度与疾病持续时间之间的关系。
两组之间的跟腱硬度差异具有统计学意义（p<0.05）。与对照组相比，患者组的跟腱硬度降低。通过 SWE 测量的跟腱硬度的诊断价值较高。发现疾病持续时间与肌腱硬度之间存在负相关（p<0.05）。
在诊断为 AS 的患者中，观察到跟腱结构恶化，与健康人群相比，肌腱硬度显著降低。已经确定这些跟腱的变化与疾病的持续时间有关。
