Sonoelastography for Skin Evaluation in Sclerodermic Patients

Abstract

Background: The objective of the study is to evaluate elastography ultrasound fndings in patients with scleroderma (SS) and to clarify the effectiveness of elastosonography to differentiate scleroderma lesions from any skin lesion considering tissue elasticity.

Methods: Thirty‑six SS patients defnite diagnosis of systemic sclerosis according to American College of Rheumatology criteria and 36 healthy subjects were enrolled. Volar aspect of the middle forearm and arm in addition to the dorsal
aspect of the fngers were evaluated by sonoelastography. The RGB (red, green, blue) image is a three‑dimensional matrix. A color image RGB is an M × N × 3 array of color pixels. The total pixels, total blue pixels, and blue index compared between SS cases and controls.

Results: Mean age of patients was 41.3 ± 10.3 years and mean age of controls was 39.8 ± 9.3 years. Mean‑modifed Rodnan skin score of the whole body was 11.9 and mean duration of disease was 6.2 years. Mean total blue pixels in the arm were signifcantly different between cases and controls. Mean total image pixels, total blue pixels, and blue index in the forearm were signifcantly different between
cases and controls. Elastography fndings in the fnger were not signifcantly different between cases and controls.

Conclusions: Sonoelastography could be used for evaluating skin of forearm in
sclerodermic cases which will be helpful for disease evaluation in clinical course.

Keywords: Elasticity imaging techniques, scleroderma, skin