Ultrasonographic monitoring of response to therapy in polymyalgia rheumatica

Objective To assess the responsiveness of ultrasound (US) inflammatory findings in the shoulder and hip of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) who started treatment with corticosteroids. Methods Fifty-three patients with active PMR who started treatment with prednisone in six Spanish centres were prospectively studied. The patients underwent clinical, laboratory and US assessment at baseline, 4 and 12 weeks. The US investigation consisted of detection and quantification of inflammatory findings in the shoulder and hip. The responsiveness of clinical, laboratory and US parameters was tested by the standardised response mean. Intraobserver and interobserver reliability between US investigators was assessed. Results At baseline, 34 patients (69%) had inflammation in at least one bilateral site. During the follow-up period, clinical, laboratory and US variables showed a parallel decrease. A significant decrease in US inflammatory parameters was found at week 4 (p