Ultrasound shows swollen joints are the better proxy for synovitis than tender joints in DMARD-naïve early psoriatic arthritis.

To evaluate the relationship between clinical examination/US synovitis in DMARD-naïve early PsA. Eligible patients underwent matched clinical/US 44-joint assessment for tender and/or swollen joints (TJ/SJ) and US synovitis [grey scale (GS) ≥ 2 or power Doppler (PD) ≥ 1]. Statistical agreement between TJ/SJ, GS ≥ 2 and PD ≥ 1 was calculated by prevalence-adjusted and bias-adjusted κ (PABAK). To derive probabilities of GS ≥ 2/PD ≥ 1, mixed-effects logistic regression-modelled odds of US synovitis in TJ/SJ were conducted. In 155 patients, 5616 joints underwent clinical/US examination. Of these joints, 1039 of 5616 (18.5%) were tender, 550 of 5616 (9.8%) were swollen, 1144 of 5616 (20.4%) had GS ≥ 2, and 292 of 5616 (5.2%) had PD ≥ 1. GS ≥ 2 was most prevalent in concomitantly tender and swollen joints [205 of 462 (44%)], followed by swollen non-tender joints [32 of 88 (36.4%)], tender non-swollen joints [148 of 577 (25.7%)] and non-tender non-swollen joints (subclinical synovitis) [759 of 4489 (16.9%)]. Agreement between SJ/PD ≥ 1 was high at the individual joint level (82.6-96.3%, PABAK 0.65-0.93) and for total joints combined (89.9%, PABAK 0.80). SJ/GS ≥ 2 agreement was greater than between TJ/GS ≥ 2 [73.5-92.6% Synovitis (GS ≥ 2 and/or PD ≥ 1) was more likely in swollen joints than in tender joints in DMARD-naïve, early PsA. Agreement indicated that swollen joints were the better proxy for synovitis, adding to greater understanding between clinical and US assessments.

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© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology.