Ultrasonographic Assessment of Entheseal Sites of Upper and Lower Extremities in Hemodialysis Patients using Madrid Sonography Enthesitis Index
Abstract Background Musculoskeletal (MSK) complications are one of the most common health concerns that impact individuals on maintenance hemodialysis (HD). However, little is known about the entheseal involvement in HD patients. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and distribution of entheseal ultrasonographic (US) alterations in HD patients and to evaluate the association between US findings and both clinical and laboratory data.Methods: This study was conducted on 41 HD and 23 sex- and age- matched controls. All HD patients and healthy controls were evaluated clinically to detect any clinical evidence of enthesopathy. Six entheses sites were scanned bilaterally using grey scale (GS) and power Doppler (PD) ultrasonography (US) and were scored using Madrid Sonography Enthesitis Index (MASEI) scoring system. Results:Clinical examination revealed at least one sign suggestive of enthesopathy in 69 (14.02) of 492 entheses in 41 HD patients. HD patients had statistically significant higher scores of stuctural tendon abnormalities (p<0.001), enthesis thickening (p<0.001), bone erosions (p<0.001) and calcification (p=0.037) than healthy controls. Total MASEI score was higher in HD patients than healthy controls (median ;18 vs 8, p<0.001), also, MASEI-inflammatory (median ;11 vs 3, p<0.001) and damage scores (median ;6 vs 0, p<0.001). There was a statistically significant positive association between total MASEI score and both age (p=0.032) and duration of HD (p=0.037). Duration of HD was predictive for both MASEI-damage component (p=0.004) and total MASEI score (p=0.014).Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of asymptomatic enthesopathy in HD patients. The burden of entheseal US alterations is much higher in HD patients than in healthy subjects. US can be helpful in the early detection of entheseal abnormalities. The duration of HD is the most significant predictor of enthesopathy in HD patients.