scholarly journals SWE and SMI ultrasound techniques for monitoring needling treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: study protocol for a single-blinded randomized controlled trial

Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengyu Wang ◽  
Wen Fu ◽  
Lingcui Meng ◽  
Jia Liu ◽  
Lihua Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a high-incidence disease in young men that interferes with patients’ physical and mental wellbeing and overall quality of life (QoL). It is often accompanied by arthralgia, stiffness, and limited lumbar flexibility. Acupuncture is safe and effective for reducing the symptoms of AS, but the underlying mechanisms by which it does so are not fully understood. Therefore, to objectively assess acupuncture efficacy, which is critical for patients making informed decisions about appropriate treatments, we will use shear-wave elastography (SWE) and superb microvascular imaging (SMI) ultrasound techniques to evaluate elasticity of lumbar paraspinal muscles and blood flow to the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) in AS. Methods We will recruit a total of 60 participants diagnosed with AS and 30 healthy subjects. Participants will be randomly allocated 1:1 to either an acupuncture group or a sham control acupuncture group. Primary-outcome measures will be musculoskeletal ultrasound, Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life Scale (ASQoL), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI), and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain. Secondary outcome measures will be the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Function Index (BASFI), and Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14). We will monitor the effect of acupuncture or sham acupuncture on blood flow and SIJ inflammation using SMI, lumbar-muscle stiffness using SWE and the lumbar paraspinal-muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) using a two-dimensional (2D) grayscale imaging. QoL, physical function, and fatigue will be assessed using an evaluation scale or questionnaire developed for this study, with outcomes measured by the ASQoL, BASMI, BASDAI, BASFI, and FS-14. Healthy subjects will not receive acupuncture but undergo only musculoskeletal ultrasound at baseline. Acupuncture and sham control acupuncture interventions will be conducted for 30 min, 2–3 times/week for 12 weeks. Musculoskeletal ultrasound will be conducted at baseline and post-intervention, while other outcomes will be measured at baseline, 6 weeks, and post-intervention. The statistician, outcome assessor, and participants will be blinded to treatment allocation. Discussion The results of this single-blinded, randomized trial with sham controls could help demonstrate the efficacy of acupuncture and clarify whether musculoskeletal ultrasound could be used to evaluate AS. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov ChiCTR2000031476. Registered 3 April 2020.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengyu Wang ◽  
Wen Fu ◽  
Lingcui Meng ◽  
Jiajia Liu ◽  
Lihua Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a high-incidence disease in young men that interferes with patients’ physical and mental wellbeing and overall quality of life (QoL) (7). It is often accompanied by arthralgia, stiffness and limited lumbar flexibility. Acupuncture is safe and effective for reducing the symptoms of AS, but the underlying mechanisms by which it does so are not fully understood. Therefore, to objectively assess acupuncture efficacy, which is critical for patients making informed decisions about appropriate treatments, we will use shear-wave elastography (SWE) and superb microvascular imaging (SMI) ultrasound techniques to evaluate elasticity of lumbar paraspinal muscles and blood flow to the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) in AS.Methods: We will recruit a total of 70 participants diagnosed with AS and 30 healthy subjects. Participants will be randomly allocated 1:1 to either an acupuncture group or a sham control acupuncture group. Primary-outcome measures will be musculoskeletal ultrasound and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI). Secondary-outcome measures will be the Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life Scale (ASQoL), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Function Index (BASFI), Fatigue Scale-14 (FS-14), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). We will monitor the effect of acupuncture or sham acupuncture on blood flow and SIJ inflammation using SMI, lumbar-muscle stiffness using SWE and the lumbar paraspinal-muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) using two-dimensional (2D) grayscale imaging. QoL, physical function and fatigue will be assessed using an evaluation scale or questionnaire developed for this study, with outcomes measured by the ASQoL, BASMI, BASDAI, BASFI and FS-14. Mental state will be evaluated using the SAS and SDS. Healthy subjects will not receive acupuncture but undergo only musculoskeletal ultrasound at baseline. Acupuncture and sham control acupuncture interventions will be conducted for 30 min, 2–3 times/week for 12 weeks. Musculoskeletal ultrasound will be conducted at baseline and post-intervention, while other outcomes will be measured at baseline, 6 weeks and post-intervention. The statistician, outcome assessor and participants will be blinded to treatment allocation.Discussion: The results of this single-blinded, randomized trial with sham controls could help demonstrate the efficacy of acupuncture and clarify whether musculoskeletal ultrasound could be used to evaluate AS.Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2000031476. Registered April 3, 2020. http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Maarj ◽  
Andrea Coda ◽  
Louise Tofts ◽  
Cylie Williams ◽  
Derek Santos ◽  
...  

Abstract Background This study aimed to synthesise outcome measure type and use in interventional or prospective longitudinal studies of children with generalised joint hypermobility (GJH) and associated symptoms. Method Electronic searches of Medline, CINAHL and Embase databases from inception to 16th March 2020 were performed for studies of children with GJH and symptoms between 5-18 years reporting repeated outcome measures collected at least 4 weeks apart. Methodological quality of eligible studies were described using the Downs and Black checklist.Results Six studies comprising of five interventional, and one prospective observational study (total of 388 children) met the inclusion criteria. Interventional study durations were between 2 to 3 months, with up to 10 months post-intervention follow-up, while the observational study spanned 3 years. Three main constructs of pain, function and quality of life were reported as primary outcome measures using 20 different instruments. All but one measure was validated in paediatric populations, but not specifically for children with GJH and symptoms. One study assessed fatigue, reporting disabling fatigue to be associated with higher pain intensity. Conclusions There were no agreed sets of outcome measures for children with GJH and symptoms found. The standardisation of assessment tools across paediatric clinical trials is needed. Four constructs of pain, function, quality of life and fatigue are recommended to be included with agreed upon, validated, objective tools


Author(s):  
Cecilia Durán ◽  
María del Carmen Abreu ◽  
Juan J. Dapueto

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the Assessment and Orientation Treatment Program for children and adolescents with disabilities treated at the Center Teletón Uruguay from the perspective of the patients and their parents based on several patient reported outcome measures: health related quality of life (HRQOL), treatment satisfaction, family impact, and emotional distress. METHODS: The sample consisted of all the 126 dyads of children/adolescents with ages ranging from 2 to 18 years and their primary caregivers who entered the program from April to October 2012. A set of instruments were filled out by children and parents before and six months after the program. T test for paired samples for continuous variables and McNemar's test for categorical variables were used to assess changes pre and post intervention. RESULTS: There was a high prevalence of depression and anxiety in the caregivers. In the second evaluation, improvements that were statistically significant only for the caregivers were observed in the HRQOL of children, adolescents and caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: The patient reported outcome measures used were effective in detecting changes in several areas of the quality of life of children observed by their caregivers and in their own quality of life after the intervention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Maarj ◽  
Andrea Coda ◽  
Louise Tofts ◽  
Cylie Williams ◽  
Derek Santos ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Generalised joint hypermobility (GJH) is highly prevalent among children and associated with symptoms in a fifth with the condition. This study aimed to synthesise outcome measures in interventional or prospective longitudinal studies of children with GJH and associated lower limb symptoms. Methods Electronic searches of Medline, CINAHL and Embase databases from inception to 16th March 2020 were performed for studies of children with GJH and symptoms between 5 and 18 years reporting repeated outcome measures collected at least 4 weeks apart. Methodological quality of eligible studies were described using the Downs and Black checklist. Results Six studies comprising of five interventional, and one prospective observational study (total of 388 children) met the inclusion criteria. Interventional study durations were between 2 and 3 months, with up to 10 months post-intervention follow-up, while the observational study spanned 3 years. Three main constructs of pain, function and quality of life were reported as primary outcome measures using 20 different instruments. All but one measure was validated in paediatric populations, but not specifically for children with GJH and symptoms. One study assessed fatigue, reporting disabling fatigue to be associated with higher pain intensity. Conclusions There were no agreed sets of outcome measures used for children with GJH and symptoms. The standardisation of assessment tools across paediatric clinical trials is needed. Four constructs of pain, function, quality of life and fatigue are recommended to be included with agreed upon, validated, objective tools.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gehan Elolemy ◽  
Ahmed Aboughanima ◽  
Sahar Ganeb ◽  
Haytham Elziat

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic progressive inflammatory disease leading to functional limitations and subsequently impaired quality of life (QoL). Despite the fact that QoL was recognized as a significant perception, it was excluded from the core domains (defined by the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society), because of ambiguity of measurement choice. Aim: To assess QoL in patients with AS using a generic; Short Form-36 (SF-36) and a diseasespecific; Ankylosing Spondylitis quality of life (ASQoL) instruments and to explore its relationship to the clinical characteristics, disease activity, functional status, and radiographic severity. Methods: A total of 47 AS patients who fulfilled modified New York criteria were included. Disease activity, functional status, spinal mobility, and radiographic severity were assessed by Bath AS Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath AS Functional Index (BASFI), Bath AS Metrology Index (BASMI) and Bath AS Radiology Index (BASRI) respectively. SF-36 and ASQoL instruments evaluated Qol. Results: Physical health was more affected especially in patients with peripheral arthritis by SF-36 (p=0.008) and ASQoL (p=0.022) scores. Both SF-36 total and ASQoL scores correlated significantly with BASDAI (r = -0.329, p = 0.024 and r = 0.420, p = 0.003), BASFI (r = -0.399, p = 0.005 and r = 0.513, p=0.001) and BASMI (r = -0.382, p = 0.008 and r = 0.482, p= 0.001) respectively. Conclusion: QoL was impaired in AS patients with highest impact on physical health especially in association with peripheral arthritis. SF-36 and ASQol have a comparable achievement in the evaluation of QoL in AS patients and both physical function and spinal mobility were identified as predictors of poor QoL.


Author(s):  
Michael A Catalano ◽  
Shahryar G Saba ◽  
Bruce Rutkin ◽  
Greg Maurer ◽  
Jacinda Berg ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims Up to 40% of patients with aortic stenosis (AS) present with discordant grading of AS severity based on common transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) measures. Our aim was to evaluate the utility of TTE and multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) measures in predicting symptomatic improvement in patients with AS undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Methods and results A retrospective review of 201 TAVR patients from January 2017 to November 2018 was performed. Pre- and post-intervention quality-of-life was measured using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ-12). Pre-intervention measures including dimensionless index (DI), stroke volume index (SVI), mean transaortic gradient, peak transaortic velocity, indexed aortic valve area (AVA), aortic valve calcium score, and AVA based on hybrid MDCT-Doppler calculations were obtained and correlated with change in KCCQ-12 at 30-day follow-up. Among the 201 patients studied, median KCCQ-12 improved from 54.2 pre-intervention to 85.9 post-intervention. In multivariable analysis, patients with a mean gradient >40 mmHg experienced significantly greater improvement in KCCQ-12 at follow-up than those with mean gradient ≤40 mmHg (28.1 vs. 16.4, P = 0.015). Patients with MDCT-Doppler-calculated AVA of ≤1.2 cm2 had greater improvements in KCCQ-12 scores than those with computed tomography-measured AVA of >1.2 cm2 (23.4 vs. 14.1, P = 0.049) on univariate but not multivariable analysis. No association was detected between DI, SVI, peak velocity, calcium score, or AVA index and change in KCCQ-12. Conclusion Mean transaortic gradient is predictive of improvement in quality-of-life after TAVR. This measure of AS severity may warrant greater relative consideration when selecting the appropriateness of patients for TAVR.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Cristina Bobes Álvarez ◽  
Paloma Issa-Khozouz Santamaría ◽  
Rubén Fernández-Matías ◽  
Daniel Pecos-Martín ◽  
Alexander Achalandabaso-Ochoa ◽  
...  

Patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction and patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis (KOA) have been shown to have quadriceps muscle weakness and/or atrophy in common. The physiological mechanisms of blood flow restriction (BFR) training could facilitate muscle hypertrophy. The purpose of this systematic review is to investigate the effects of BFR training on quadriceps cross-sectional area (CSA), pain perception, function and quality of life on these patients compared to a non-BFR training. A literature research was performed using Web of Science, PEDro, Scopus, MEDLINE, Dialnet, CINAHL and The Cochrane Library databases. The main inclusion criteria were that papers were English or Spanish language reports of randomized controlled trials involving patients with ACL reconstruction or suffering from KOA. The initial research identified 159 publications from all databases; 10 articles were finally included. The search was conducted from April to June 2020. Four of these studies found a significant improvement in strength. A significant increase in CSA was found in two studies. Pain significantly improved in four studies and only one study showed a significant improvement in functionality/quality of life. Low-load training with BFR may be an effective option treatment for increasing quadriceps strength and CSA, but more research is needed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1658.1-1658
Author(s):  
L. Tu ◽  
Y. Xie ◽  
Q. Lv ◽  
M. Yang ◽  
Z. Liao ◽  
...  

Background:Poorer work productivity due to pain and functional impairment is commonly seen in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients, which may contribute to huge social economic burden. However, data about work outcomes and associated factors in Chinese AS patients were barely reported.Objectives:To assess work outcomes and identify factors associated with poor work productivity in patients with AS in China.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in China. Adult patients (aged ≥ 18 years) fulfilled the 1984 New York modified criteria of AS were enrolled from rheumatology center from Jan 2017 to Aug 2017. All participants completed questionnaires about socio-demographic characteristics, disease characteristics, quality of life and the Work productivity and activity impairment questionnaire in AS (WPAI:SpA) to accesses the impact of chronic health conditions on job performance and productivity. Factors associated with work outcomes were evaluated.Results:A total of 91 patients with AS were included: 87.8% males, 78.02% employed, mean age and disease duration of 30 and 10 years respectively. The mean (SD) activity impairment of all patients was 48.57% (22.02%). For patients with employed work, mean (SD) absenteeism, presenteeism and work productivity loss were 10.22% (19.44%), 43.86% (22.48%) and 47.92% (25.81%) respectively. In multivariable analysis, activity impairment was associated with Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) (P<0.01) and Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life (ASQoL) (P<0.01). Absenteeism was associated with disease duration (P=0.03). Presenteeism was associated with disease duration (P=0.04), BASFI (P<0.01) and ASQoL (P<0.01). Work productivity loss was associated with BASFI (P<0.01) and ASQoL (P<0.01).Conclusion:Longer disease duration, reduced physical function and poorer quality of life are associated with reduced work productivity in Chinese AS patients.References:[1]Boonen A, van der Heijde D, Landewe R, Spoorenberg A, Schouten H, Rutten-van Molken M, et al. Work status and productivity costs due to ankylosing spondylitis: comparison of three European countries. Annals of the rheumatic diseases. 2002;61(5):429-37.[2]Martindale J, Shukla R, Goodacre J. The impact of ankylosing spondylitis/axial spondyloarthritis on work productivity. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2015;29(3):512-23.[3]Castillo-Ortiz JD, Ramiro S, Landewe R, van der Heijde D, Dougados M, van den Bosch F, et al. Work Outcome in Patients With Ankylosing Spondylitis: Results From a 12-Year Followup of an International Study. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2016;68(4):544-52.[4]Sag S, Nas K, Sag MS, Tekeoglu I, Kamanli A. Relationship of work disability between the disease activity, depression and quality of life in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil. 2018;31(3):499-505.[5]Goh Y, Kwan YH, Leung YY, Fong W, Cheung PP. A cross-sectional study on factors associated with poor work outcomes in patients with axial spondyloarthritis in Singapore. Int J Rheum Dis. 2019;22(11):2001-8.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e000929
Author(s):  
Sheharyar Baig ◽  
Bethany Moyle ◽  
Jessica Redgrave ◽  
Arshad Majid ◽  
Ali Ali

ObjectivesExercise programmes studied after stroke often involve specialist supervision. Determine the feasibility and safety for people with stroke (PwS) or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) participating in readily accessible, non-stroke specialised, community-based exercise programmes.MethodsParticipants were recruited into a structured, group-based, 12-week programme of aerobic and resistance exercise delivered two times per week at one of five local leisure centres. Completion rates, successful attainment of intended exercise intensity (Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)) and safety outcomes were recorded. Measures of physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) and blood pressure (BP) were recorded at baseline and day 1 post intervention.Results79% of participants completed >75% of the intended sessions, with >90% attainment of intended RPE. Exercise was safe with no serious and very few minor adverse events related to exercise. Exercise led to significant increases in EQ-5D (Best of Health p<0.001), levels of weekly moderate physical activity (p<0.001) and decreases in systolic BP (mean change [95% CI]=−5.4 mmHg [−2.84 to −7.96]; p<0.001).ConclusionGeneralised exercise programmes delivered through existing local services, appears feasible, safe and may improve quality of life, physical activity and systolic BP, for PwS and TIA.


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