Vasculitis & polymyalgia rheumatica
A novel ultrasound-based score for assessing carotid artery activity in Takayasu's arteritis
Authors' conclusion
Our proposed ultrasound-based score carries the potential in the detection of active disease among TAK patients.
Study context
- Population
- TAK patients with carotid artery involvement, prospectively followed up for 6 monthstraining n=136, validation n=30
- Comparison
- Ultrasonographic activity score (ULTRAS) alone or combined with ESR or CRP for active TAK
- Outcome
- Diagnostic performance of ULTRAS for active disease (AUC)
Methodological detailsprospective, internal validation
- Prospective
- Internal validation
Performance
As reported in the abstract
Diagnostic accuracy of ULTRAS for active TAK (training group; optimal cut-off of 7)
| Test or model | AUC | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|
| ULTRAS | 0.88 | 82-94 |
ULTRAS
AUC0.88
95% CI82-94
- ULTRAS combined with ESR, AUC
- 0.91 (95% CI 86-96)
- ULTRAS combined with CRP, AUC
- 0.90 (95% CI 86-95)
Further findings
| Outcome | ULTRAS | ESR plus ULTRAS | CRP plus ULTRAS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active TAK, validation group | |||
| AUC | 0.88 | 0.95 | 0.92 |
Post-treatment follow-up
- Thickness (TS), echogenicity scores (ES) and ULTRAS paralleled disease remission and symptom recovery
Wall thickness improvement ≥0.3 mm and symptom recovery · 3 months
- Improvement ≥0.3 mm correlated with symptom recovery in proportion of patients
- 50%
Original publication
A novel ultrasound-based score for assessing carotid artery activity in Takayasu's arteritis. Clin Exp Rheumatol. Published 16 April 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →