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Biomedical subjects

S Torp-Pedersen

Publications and source records attributed to S Torp-Pedersen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Ultrasound guided electrocoagulation in patients with chronic non-insertional Achilles tendinopathy: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: High resolution colour Doppler ultrasound shows intratendinous Doppler activity in patients with chronic Achilles tendinopathy. Treatment of this neovascularisation with sclerosing therapy seems to relieve the pain. However, the procedure often has to be repeated. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of electrocoagulation of the neovessels on tendon pain and tendon vascularity in patients with chronic Achilles tendinopathy. METHODS: Colour Doppler ultrasound guided electrocoagulation was used on vessels in the ventral portion of the Achilles tendon in 11 patients (seven men, four women, mean age 41 years) with painful chronic mid-portion Achilles tendinosis. A unipolar coagulation device was used. RESULTS: One patient dropped out after two months (dissatisfied with the results). The remaining 10 patients (91%) were satisfied. These 10 patients were still satisfied at six months of follow up and had returned to their previous level of activity. All 10 patients were "cured" after one treatment. The patient who dropped out received two treatments because of lack of progress. There was significantly reduced pain (Likert pain scale, 0-10) during activity, from a median of 7 (range 4 to 10) at baseline to 0 (0 to 8) at six months' follow up (p<0.005); and at rest, from 1.5 (1 to 5) to 0 (0 to 8) (p = 0.005). In all patients, vascularisation was unchanged at the six months follow up, with no significant change in semiquantitative or quantitative colour scoring. CONCLUSIONS: Coagulation in the area with vessels entering the tendon appears to be effective treatment for painful chronic mid-tendinous Achilles tendinopathy. No effect on the intratendinous Doppler activity could be detected, suggesting that the effect is independent of changes in blood flow. Localisation of hyperaemia appears to be the key to the pathology and for targeting the treatment. One explanation could be that the effect is obtained by destruction of nerves accompanying the vessels.

Achilles Tendon↗
PubMed2006

Reproducibility and inter-reader agreement of a scoring system for ultrasound evaluation of hip osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the intra-reader and inter-reader agreements of ultrasonographic assessments of hip joints in patients with hip osteoarthritis. DESIGN: Ultrasonography was performed on 100 patients with hip osteoarthritis at 14 MHz using a 8-15 MHz linear probe. Dynamic sweeps of the hip and representative still images were used for the analysis. A semiquantitative grading score was introduced in the evaluation of the ultrasound pictures and compared with an overall ultrasound evaluation. The evaluation was performed by a specialist in ultrasonography and a rheumatologist trained in musculoskeletal ultrasound examination. Clinical pain assessment and joint aspiration were obtained in parallel with the ultrasonography. RESULTS: Intraobserver agreement represented by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) (exact agreement in percentage; unweighted kappa values) showed good to excellent correlation, 0.8 with regard to the osteophyte score, 0.78 with regard to the femoral head score, 0.71 with regard to the fluid score and 0.69 with regard to the synovial profile score. Interobserver agreement was fair to good with corresponding ICC 0.65, 0.63, 0.45 and 0.6, respectively. In comparison, the ICC for the global osteoarthritis and synovial assessments were 0.7 and 0.72, respectively, for the intraobserver rating and 0.56 and 0.58, respectively, for the interobserver rating. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that ultrasound is a reproducible method for the assessment of changes in the osseous surface and synovium-related inflammation. The semiquantitative scoring system presented seemed to match the global assessment of a trained ultrasound investigator and might be used by less-trained investigators.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Ultrasound Doppler of the Achilles tendon before and after injection of an ultrasound contrast agent--findings in asymptomatic subjects.

UNLABELLED: The sensitivity of ultrasound Doppler has now reached a level at which perfusion can be detected even in normal, resting musculoskeletal tissues. To be able to distinguish normal from abnormal flow, the resistive index (RI) determined by spectral Doppler may be of value. Inflammation is associated with low RI values and a value of 1.00 is normal. PURPOSE: In tissues with no detectable flow, it has been assumed that RI may be defined as 1.00. This study was performed to test if normal tendinous vessels could be visualised with a contrast agent, and if such vessels had normal RI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ultrasound (US) was performed with a 14 MHz linear transducer. 22 asymptomatic tendons in 12 subjects were scanned, and only 5 ultrasonically normal tendons in 5 subjects were identified. In these 5 normal tendons, SonoVue was used to make vessels visible. The Achilles tendons and the peritendinous tissues were evaluated clinically. RESULTS: In all 5 ultrasonically normal tendons, arteries could be detected with Doppler after contrast injection and in all cases with normal RI values. All vessels were located in the mid-portion of the tendon. 18 tendons were categorised as normal by the clinician. CONCLUSION: After administration of a contrast agent, all Achilles tendons could be demonstrated to have arteries present in the mid-portion. The flow profile of these arteries was fully normal without diastolic component and with an RI of 1.00. This finding has implications for criteria of normality of tendons, which cannot be based exclusively on the presence or absence of Doppler activity. The majority of the tendons in this study had ultrasound abnormalities both on gray-scale and colour Doppler. It can be speculated that the abnormalities may be age-related degenerative changes and that age-stratified normal materials are needed to define normality. There was no consistency between US and clinical diagnosis.

Achilles Tendon↗
PubMed2006

Intra-tendinous ossification with concomitant tendonitis and bursitis--ultrasound grey-scale and colour Doppler findings.

A case report of a 62-year-old man with a 20-year history of tendon problems, who presented with a swollen and tender left Achilles tendon. Ultrasound (US) revealed a 2 x 1 x 0.9 cm intra-tendinous substance with acoustic shadowing. On a radiogram, ossification was found. Colour Doppler activity was present in both the bursa and the tendon. A US-guided injection of 40 mg Depomedrol was applied into the retrocalcaneal bursa. On follow-up two months later, the patient had no symptoms and US showed total regression of Doppler activity. The ossification was unchanged. US colour Doppler may be recommended for guidance and monitoring of treatment.

Bursitis↗
PubMed2006

Indications of inflammation visualized by ultrasound in osteoarthritis of the knee.

PURPOSE: Ultrasound examination of a group of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee for signs of inflammation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 71 knees in 71 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee were examined with high-resolution gray-scale ultrasound combined with color and spectral Doppler. The medial, lateral, and antero-superior compartments were examined. Hyperemia was identified as presence of color Doppler signals in the synovial membrane. Low resistance flow was defined as a resistive index < 0.80 on spectral Doppler. RESULTS: Synovial thickening was found in all knees; fluid in 61 patients; and hyperemia (color Doppler activity) in 51 patients. Of these, 44 had arterial flow on spectral Doppler - 36 with a low resistance flow. When present, fluid and color Doppler activity was found in all three compartments, but with uneven distribution. CONCLUSION: The finding in the majority of cases of both effusions on B-mode US and Doppler activity confirms that there is a varying degree of inflammation in knee OA as diagnosed by the ACR criteria.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Tendinopathy and Doppler activity: the vascular response of the Achilles tendon to exercise.

BACKGROUND: Intratendinous Doppler activity has been interpreted as an equivalent of neovessels in the Achilles tendon and as a sign of tendinosis (AT). AIM: To evaluate the vascular response as indicated by color Doppler activity after repeated loading of both symptomatic and non-symptomatic Achilles tendons. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ten non-trained, healthy subjects ran 5 km. Ultrasound (US) Doppler activity was determined before and after the exercise. Eleven patients with chronic AT performed 3 x 15 heavy-load eccentric exercise. The Achilles tendons were scanned before and immediately after the exercise. RESULTS: Non-symptomatic: six Achilles tendons in five subjects had intratendinous Doppler activity before the exercise. All but two subjects (80%) had intratendinous Doppler activity after running. Symptomatic: all patients had Doppler activity in the tendons, with a median color fraction before eccentric exercise of 0.05 (range 0.01-0.33). The Doppler activity did not disappear after exercise. Tendons with a color fraction below the median at baseline increased significantly after the exercise (P=0.02). CONCLUSION: The mere presence of Doppler in the Achilles tendon does not per se indicate disease. Eccentric exercise does not extinguish the flow during or after one training session in patients with chronic AT.

Achilles Tendon↗
PubMed2005

Intra-articular treatment of hip osteoarthritis: a randomized trial of hyaluronic acid, corticosteroid, and isotonic saline.

OBJECTIVE: Hyaluronic acid (HA) and corticosteroids are both widely used for intra-articular treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA). We examined the effect of both drugs in intra-articular treatment for hip OA. METHODS: One hundred and one patients with hip OA were included in a prospective double blind study, using a randomized controlled trial with a three-armed parallel-group design. Three ultrasound-guided, intra-articular injections were given at 14 days interval. The primary outcome measure was 'pain on walking', registered on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Evaluation was performed at baseline and after 14, 28 and 90 days. The study adhered to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials. All analyses were based on intention-to-treat analyses, and used 'mixed-procedures' with the baseline-observation as covariate. RESULTS: There were no significant interactions with respect to Treatment x Time for any of the analyzed outcome measures. There was a significant treatment effect for 'pain on walking' (P=0.044) due to a significant improvement following corticosteroid compared to saline with an effect-size of 0.6 (95% confidence interval: 0.1-1.1, P=0.021). By contrast, HA compared to saline had an effect size of 0.4 (-0.1 to 0.9; P=0.13). The peak-effect was obtained after 2 weeks. There was no difference between the treatment groups at endpoint. No significant side effects of the injections were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Patients treated with corticosteroids experienced significant improvement during the 3 months of intervention, with an effect size indicating a moderate clinical effect. Although a similar significant result following treatment with HA could not be shown, the effect size indicated a small clinical improvement. A higher number of patients in future HA studies would serve to clarify this point.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed2005

Interobserver reliability in musculoskeletal ultrasonography: results from a "Teach the Teachers" rheumatologist course.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the interobserver reliability of the main periarticular and intra-articular ultrasonographic pathologies and to establish the principal disagreements on scanning technique and diagnostic criteria between a group of experts in musculoskeletal ultrasonography. METHODS: The shoulder, wrist/hand, ankle/foot, or knee of 24 patients with rheumatic diseases were evaluated by 23 musculoskeletal ultrasound experts from different European countries randomly assigned to six groups. The participants did not reach consensus on scanning method or diagnostic criteria before the investigation. They were unaware of the patients' clinical and imaging data. The experts from each group undertook a blinded ultrasound examination of the four anatomical regions. The ultrasound investigation included the presence/absence of joint effusion/synovitis, bony cortex abnormalities, tenosynovitis, tendon lesions, bursitis, and power Doppler signal. Afterwards they compared the ultrasound findings and re-examined the patients together while discussing their results. RESULTS: Overall agreements were 91% for joint effusion/synovitis and tendon lesions, 87% for cortical abnormalities, 84% for tenosynovitis, 83.5% for bursitis, and 83% for power Doppler signal; kappa values were good for the wrist/hand and knee (0.61 and 0.60) and fair for the shoulder and ankle/foot (0.50 and 0.54). The principal differences in scanning method and diagnostic criteria between experts were related to dynamic examination, definition of tendon lesions, and pathological v physiological fluid within joints, tendon sheaths, and bursae. CONCLUSIONS: Musculoskeletal ultrasound has a moderate to good interobserver reliability. Further consensus on standardisation of scanning technique and diagnostic criteria is necessary to improve musculoskeletal ultrasonography reproducibility.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Doppler ultrasound findings in healthy wrists and finger joints before and after use of two different contrast agents.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of contrast agents on Doppler ultrasound findings in the synovial membrane in the wrist and fingers of healthy volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven healthy subjects were included in the study (5 women and 6 men, mean age 38 years, range (20-60)). They had no clinical signs of inflammatory or degenerative joint diseases. A total of 66 joints were examined-6 joints for each subject: wrist and metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints 1-5-before contrast injection and after Levovist and SonoVue injection with a 30 minute interval. RESULTS: Colour Doppler activity was detected in 10/55 (18%) MCP joints before contrast injection and in 29/55 (53%) and 28/55 (51%) joints after Levovist (p<0.0001) and SonoVue injection (p = 0.0001), respectively. A significant increase in Doppler activity in the radial (p<0.05) and ulnar (p = 0.01) parts of the wrist joint was detected only after SonoVue injections. With spectral Doppler no difference was found in the resistive index (RI) in the vessels measured before as compared with those only detected after contrast injection. CONCLUSION: The number of joints with colour Doppler activity in healthy volunteers was increased by the use of contrast agents. No changes in RI were detected. The value of contrast agents remains to be demonstrated in inflammatory diagnostics.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Preliminary results of colour Doppler-guided intratendinous glucocorticoid injection for Achilles tendonitis in five patients.

BACKGROUND: It is debated as to whether Achilles tendonitis (AT) has an inflammatory component. The intratendinous hyperaemia demonstrated with colour Doppler has been interpreted as neovascularisation. Glucocorticoid injection around the tendon is a common therapeutic procedure. HYPOTHESES: The intratendinous hyperaemia seen with ultrasound (US) colour Doppler represents an inflammatory background. Glucocorticoid injections will be effective if administered inside the tendon where the inflammation seems to be. STUDY DESIGN: An uncontrolled, prospective study with a minimum follow-up of 3 months. METHODS: Six tendons in five patients were evaluated with grey-scale US and colour Doppler before and after US-guided intratendinous glucocorticoid injection. Pain at rest and at activity was evaluated on a visual analogue scale. RESULTS: With colour Doppler all tendons had intratendinous flow. Pain and colour Doppler activity decreased during a mean follow-up of 182 days (range 92-309 days). One tendon relapsed after 199 days. CONCLUSION: Intratendinous glucocorticoid injections seem to have a marked effect on both symptoms and colour Doppler findings, which may be taken as an indication of an inflammatory component in the disease. Colour Doppler adds significant information to grey-scale US with regard to diagnosis, location and follow-up of AT.

Achilles Tendon↗
PubMed2004

Doppler ultrasound findings in healthy wrists and finger joints.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the presence of flow by Doppler ultrasound (DUS) in the wrist and finger joints (carpometacarpal 1 (CMC1), metacarpophalangeal (MCP), and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints) of healthy controls. METHODS: Twenty seven healthy volunteers (15 women, 12 men; mean age 45 years, range 18-93) with a total of 324 joints were examined by DUS. The synovial vascularisation was determined by colour Doppler and the spectral Doppler resistive index (RI). Patients were only included if no synovitis was suspected at the clinical examination and the values for biochemical analysis were within the normal range. RESULTS: We found colour pixels in 15 of the 27 examined wrist scans and in 8 of these a measurable RI. In the CMC1 joint, colour pixels were found in 11 of the 27 scans and in 9 of these a measurable RI. For the MCP joints, colour pixels were found in 10 out of 135 scans and in 3 of these a measurable RI. The mean RI for all three types of joints was 0.85 and the mean pixel fraction varied from 0.05 to 0.08. Only one PIP joint scan was found to have colour pixels and a flow with an RI of 0.67. CONCLUSION: Synovial vascularisation may be detected in healthy subjects using DUS. Newer US machines have higher Doppler sensitivity, and it is necessary to be able to distinguish normal from pathological synovial flow.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Doppler ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging of synovial inflammation of the hand in rheumatoid arthritis: a comparative study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the quantitative and qualitative information obtained by Doppler ultrasound (US) measurements of the wrist joints and the small joints of the hand with the information obtained by postcontrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to correlate the imaging results with clinical observations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: Twenty-nine consecutive RA patients were studied; 196 joints (29 wrist and 167 finger joints) were examined by both US and MRI. Parameters of inflammation were the color fraction and the resistance index (RI) obtained with color Doppler US and the thickness of enhanced synovium (in mm) and the MRI score obtained with postcontrast MRI. Clinical examination and measurements of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) level were performed on the same day as the imaging studies. RESULTS: There was a highly significant association between US indices of inflammation and postcontrast MRI scores. The mean values for both the color fraction and the RI were significantly different in the group without joint swelling compared with the other groups. The mean RI values were significantly different in the group without joint tenderness compared with the other groups. The mean thickness of enhanced synovium on postcontrast MRI was significantly different between the group without joint swelling and the other groups, but this difference was statistically significant only for the comparison of the group without joint tenderness versus the group with maximum tenderness. No association between the MRI or US estimates of inflammation and values on the visual analog scale for pain, Health Assessment Questionnaire, duration of morning stiffness, ESR, or CRP was found. CONCLUSION: Estimates of synovial inflammatory activity by Doppler US and postcontrast MRI were comparable. Estimation of synovial inflammatory activity by the RI and color fraction parameters of US appears to be a promising method of detecting and monitoring inflammatory activity in patients with RA.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Simulation of RF data with tissue motion for optimizing stationary echo canceling filters.

Blood velocity estimation is complicated by the strong echoes received from tissue surrounding the vessel under investigation. Proper blood velocity estimation necessitates use of a filter for separation of the different signal components. Development of these filters and new estimators requires RF-data, where the tissue component is known. In vivo RF-data does not have this property. Instead simulated data incorporating all relevant features of the measurement situation can be employed. One feature is the motion in the surrounding tissue induced by pulsation, heartbeat, and breathing. This study has developed models for the motions and incorporated them into the RF simulation program Field II, thereby obtaining realistic simulated data. A powerful tool for evaluation of different filters and estimators is then available. The model parameters can be varied according to the physical situation with respect to scan-site and the individual to be scanned. The nature of pulsation is discussed, and a relation between the pressure in the carotid artery and the experienced vessel wall motion is derived.

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMed2003

Spectral Doppler and resistive index. A promising tool in ultrasonographic evaluation of inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the use of spectral Doppler in the longitudinal follow-up of inflammatory joint involvement in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by comparing resistive index (RI) findings with color fraction and pain on a visual analog scale (VAS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Five patients on unchanged disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARD) treatment were followed after an intra-articular corticosteroids injection and received no further injections in the observation period. They were followed clinically and by ultrasound using color Doppler pixels and the spectral Doppler RI as indicators of inflammation. At 1, 6 and 12 months the measurements were repeated on the same joint. RESULTS: At 1-month follow-up after the corticosteroids injection, a marked decrease in the color fraction was seen in 4 out of 5 patients, while the fifth patient had a moderate decrease (Wilcoxon p < 0.05). The changes in RI showed correspondingly a marked increase in 4 out of 5 patients indicating a diminished flow to the synovium (Wilcoxon p < 0.05). The effect of the corticosteroid injection could still be seen after 1 year in 4 out of 5 patients. In RI, pixel fraction and VAS there was improvement compared with the baseline values; however, only the pixel fraction was statistically significant (Wilcoxon p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: RI seems to be an objective alternative to pixel estimation of the degree of inflammation and treatment response in RA.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Estimation of inflammation by Doppler ultrasound: quantitative changes after intra-articular treatment in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of ultrasound, including quantitative Doppler analysis of synovial vascularisation, before and after intra-articular treatment with glucocorticosteroids in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: 51 patients with RA were followed prospectively after an intra-articular glucocorticosteroid injection. Disease modifying antirheumatic drug treatment was kept unchanged and no further injections given in this observation period. At baseline, disease activity was estimated clinically by target join pain on a 100 mm visual analogue scale, on which the target joint was scored 0-3 for swelling and tenderness, and by ultrasound measurements of grey scale pixels, colour Doppler pixels, and the spectral Doppler resistive index (RI) as indicators of synovial swelling and inflammation. After four weeks, the measurements were repeated on the same joint. An observer unaware of the sequence and patient number evaluated the ultrasound images. RESULTS: At one month follow up after the glucocorticosteroid injection, a marked decrease in the fraction of colour pixels was seen in 41/51 patients (Student's t test p<0.001). Correspondingly, the RI increased indicating a diminished flow to the synovium (Student's t test p<0.01). Both the fraction of colour pixels and the RI values corresponded with the clinical evaluation and with the subjective effect of the treatment. The synovial membrane volume estimated by total amount of pixels showed a significant decrease by 31% after treatment. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound-Doppler seems to be a promising tool for the estimation of synovial activity in arthritis. After intra-articular glucocorticosteroid, changes in RI and fraction of colour pixels may both be used as quantitative measurements of the blood flow.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Effects of treatment with etanercept (Enbrel, TNRF:Fc) on rheumatoid arthritis evaluated by Doppler ultrasonography.

OBJECTIVE: to estimate and visualise the efficacy of treatment with etanercept (Enbrel) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using colour Doppler and spectral Doppler ultrasonography to determine the possible changes in synovial perfusion during a one year observation period. METHODS: Eleven patients from the European multicentre trial of the efficacy and safety of etanercept were included in this study when transferred into the open label, long term safety, and efficacy study. Before a scheduled dosage increase to 50 mg/week they were examined clinically, serologically, and by ultrasonography using the colour Doppler pixels and the spectral Doppler resistance index (RI) as indicators of inflammation. The patients were re-examined at two weeks and at one year follow up RESULTS: The clinical activity decreased significantly from baseline to week 2, but no significant changes were seen from baseline to one year. The number of coloured pixels in each region of interest decreased from baseline to week 2 with a median reduction of 60% (p=0.005). This effect on the perfusion in the synovium could not be found after one year of treatment. During the initial treatment we detected an increase in synovial RI by spectral Doppler. The median increase in peripheral resistance from baseline to week 2 as estimated by the mean RI was 22.6% (p=0.005). The increase in peripheral resistance was maintained to some extent after one year (mean RI increased by 18.8% p=0.074). CONCLUSION: Ultrasonography seems to be a promising tool for the detection of treatment response using spectral Doppler and pixel estimation.

Adult↗