Vasculitis & polymyalgia rheumatica
Assessing vasculitis in Takayasu arteritis by ultrasound: results of OMERACT patient-based reliability exercises
Authors' conclusion
Among the ultrasound elementary lesions for TAK, the ‘macaroni sign’ revealed moderate to good reliability, while the reproducibility of stenosis and occlusion was worse and more variable. These results provide the methodological basis to develop a new global Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) ultrasound score in TAK.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with Takayasu arteritis (TAK) and a control subject examined by vascular sonographerseach exercise involved 12 vascular sonographers who examined five patients with TAK and one control subject
- Outcome
- Inter-rater reliability (Fleiss' κ) across the two rounds of both exercises
Methodological detailstwo live exercises with two rounds each, independent examination
- Two live exercises with two rounds each
- Independent examination
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
'macaroni sign' (moderate to good)
κ 0.51-0.74
Stenosis (fair)
0.24-0.38
Occlusion (variable)
0.02-0.60
Further findings
Intrarater reliability (Cohen's κ) across the two exercises
- 'macaroni sign' (good to excellent)
- 0.74-0.81
- Stenosis (moderate)
- 0.55-0.64
- Occlusion (moderate)
- 0.64-1.00
- Occlusion based on a limited number of assessments
Reliability per vessel and lesion
- Inter-rater reliability good to excellent for the 'macaroni sign' in carotids but worse across other vessels and lesion types
- Intrarater reliability good to excellent per single vessel and lesion though limited for occlusions and for the abdominal aorta
Original publication
Assessing vasculitis in Takayasu arteritis by ultrasound: results of OMERACT patient-based reliability exercises. RMD Open. Published 30 October 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →