Spondyloarthritis & psoriatic arthritis
Reliability of ultrasound assessment of elementary lesions in psoriatic arthritis and development of a reference dactylitis atlas
Authors' conclusion
Standardized training was associated with a marked improvement in intra- and inter-reader reliability for the assessment of elementary pPsA lesions.
Study context
- Population
- Experienced and trainee sonographers from 30 recruiting centres of the APACHE cohort assessing ultrasound (US) elementary lesions in peripheral psoriatic arthritis (pPsA)30 recruiting centres
- Outcome
- Intra- and inter-reader reliability (Light's κ) of US-detected elementary lesions in pPsA
Methodological detailsmulticentre, reliability study, web-based reliability exercises, Three web-based reliability exercises, 2020–2024
- Multicentre
- Reliability study
- Web-based reliability exercises
- Three web-based reliability exercises, 2020–2024
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Light's κ, intra- and inter-reader, across 3 steps
- Step 1 intra-reader κ, synovitis
- 0.50-0.80
- Step 1 intra-reader κ, tenosynovitis
- 0.51-0.63
- Step 1 intra-reader κ, enthesitis
- 0.62-0.73
- Step 1 intra-reader κ, dactylitis (poor)
- 0.31-0.47
- Step 1 inter-reader κ, synovitis
- 0.32-0.70
- Step 1 inter-reader κ, tenosynovitis
- 0.40-0.49
- Step 1 inter-reader κ, enthesitis
- 0.47-0.60
- Step 1 inter-reader κ, dactylitis
- 0.13-0.24
- Step 2 intra-reader κ, synovitis
- 0.81-0.90
- Step 2 intra-reader κ, tenosynovitis
- 0.66-0.83
- Step 2 intra-reader κ, enthesitis
- 0.61-0.81
- Step 2 intra-reader κ, dactylitis
- 0.37-0.47
- Step 2 inter-reader κ, synovitis
- 0.72-0.84
- Step 2 inter-reader κ, tenosynovitis
- 0.55-0.76
- Step 2 inter-reader κ, enthesitis
- 0.37-0.59
- Step 2 inter-reader κ, dactylitis
- 0.12-0.30
- Step 3 intra-reader κ, dactylitis
- 0.69-0.80
- Step 3 inter-reader κ, dactylitis
- 0.46-0.68
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Reference atlas of US elementary lesions in dactylitis
- Atlas produced based on expert consensus and lesion identification rates among sonographers
Original publication
Reliability of ultrasound assessment of elementary lesions in psoriatic arthritis and development of a reference dactylitis atlas. Rheumatology (Oxford). Published 8 April 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →