Doppler and Spectral Ultrasound of Sacroiliac Joints in Pediatric Patients with Suspected Juvenile Spondyloarthritis

Background: Power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) with spectral wave analysis (SWA) has been compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in documenting active sacroiliitis in early spondyloarthritis (SpA) but, to date, PDUS/SWA has not been yet applied to the study of sacroiliac joints (SIJs) in children. Methods: A group of 20 children (13 F/7 M, mean age 14.2 y) with suspected juvenile SpA (jSpA) underwent PDUS/SWA and, subsequently, MRI of the SIJs. SIJs PDUS scoring and resistance index (RI) of the SIJs flows were recorded. The accuracy of PDUS/SWA for the diagnosis of active sacroiliitis was evaluated, with MRI as the gold standard. Results: PDUS signals were detected in 19 patients and 30 SIJs. Bone marrow edema (BME) lesions on MRI were detected in 12 patients (diagnosed as jSpA) and 22 SIJs. PDUS scoring on SIJs were higher in patients with a final diagnosis of jSpA (p = 0.003). On SWA, the mean RIs in patients with or without final diagnosis of active sacroiliitis were, respectively, 0.604 and 0.767 (p = 0.005) at joint level. A RI < 0.55 and PDUS > 1 showed the higher specificity for sacroiliitis (AUROC curve 0.854 for PDUS and 0.920 for RI). SIJs PDUS/SWA showed an overall concordance of 82.35%, with substantial agreement (k = 0.627) with MRI on the diagnosis of sacroiliitis. Conclusions: In children with sacroiliitis, PDUS demonstrates a rich vascularization into SIJs and low RIs (<0.55) have high specificity for this condition. SIJs PDUS/SWA could be useful as a screening method in children with suspected jSpA.

Automated summary

This study found that PDUS/SWA can be used to diagnose sacroiliitis in children, and RIs <0.55 have high specificity for this condition. Therefore, SIJs PDUS/SWA could be used as a screening method in children with suspected jSpA.