Tânia Santiago1, Begonya Alcacer-Pitarch2, Maria João Salvador3, Francesco Del Galdo2, Anthony C Redmond2, José António P da Silva3. 1. Rheumatology Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal. tlousasantiago@hotmail.com. 2. Leeds Institute for Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds; and NIHR Leeds Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, Leeds, UK. 3. Rheumatology Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate ultrasound Virtual Touch Imaging and Quantification (VTIQ) as a method for determining absolute skin stiffness in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: Skin thickness, assessed by the modified Rodnan Skin Score (mRSS) and absolute skin stiffness, using VTIQ, were measured at all mRSS anatomical sites to quantify the shear wave velocity (in m/s) in 26 SSc patients and in 17 age- and gender-matched controls. Correlations between mRSS and absolute skin stiffness, and comparisons between patients and controls were analysed statistically using Mann-Whitney U tests and correlations between variables using Pearson's. P values <0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: Shear wave velocity as a measure of skin stiffness was significantly higher in SSc than in controls in 11 out of 16 mRSS sites investigated. Shear-wave velocity was strongly correlated with the local mRSS in the following anatomical sites: forearm, hand, phalanx, and thigh. In the patient group, clinically unaffected skin could also be differentiated from healthy skin using shear-wave velocity. CONCLUSIONS: VTIQ represents an innovative and promising technique that provides, for the first time, a non-invasive, absolute quantification of skin stiffness. Further studies of VTIQ are required, but this early study supports the clinical and scientific potential of this new measure of skin involvement in SSc.
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate ultrasound Virtual Touch Imaging and Quantification (VTIQ) as a method for determining absolute skin stiffness in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: Skin thickness, assessed by the modified Rodnan Skin Score (mRSS) and absolute skin stiffness, using VTIQ, were measured at all mRSS anatomical sites to quantify the shear wave velocity (in m/s) in 26 SSc patients and in 17 age- and gender-matched controls. Correlations between mRSS and absolute skin stiffness, and comparisons between patients and controls were analysed statistically using Mann-Whitney U tests and correlations between variables using Pearson's. P values <0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: Shear wave velocity as a measure of skin stiffness was significantly higher in SSc than in controls in 11 out of 16 mRSS sites investigated. Shear-wave velocity was strongly correlated with the local mRSS in the following anatomical sites: forearm, hand, phalanx, and thigh. In the patient group, clinically unaffected skin could also be differentiated from healthy skin using shear-wave velocity. CONCLUSIONS: VTIQ represents an innovative and promising technique that provides, for the first time, a non-invasive, absolute quantification of skin stiffness. Further studies of VTIQ are required, but this early study supports the clinical and scientific potential of this new measure of skin involvement in SSc.
Authors: Tânia Santiago; Eduardo José Ferreira Santos; Barbara Ruaro; Gemma Lepri; Lorraine Green; Marie Wildt; Shinji Watanabe; Alain Lescoat; Roger Hesselstrand; Francesco Del Galdo; John D Pauling; Lucy Jean Reeve; Maria Antonieta D'Agostino; Marco Matucci-Cerinic; Annamaria Iagnocco; Jose Antonio Pereira da Silva Journal: RMD Open Date: 2022-07
Authors: Piotr Sobolewski; Maria Maślińska; Jakub Zakrzewski; Łukasz Paluch; Elżbieta Szymańska; Irena Walecka Journal: Rheumatol Int Date: 2020-03-07 Impact factor: 2.631