Power Doppler ultrasonographic assessment of the joint-draining lymph node complex in rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective proof-of-concept study on treatment with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors

摘要

BackgroundEmerging research on the mechanisms of disease chronicity in experimental arthritis has included a new focus on the draining lymph node (LN). Here, we combined clinical-serological analyses and power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) imaging to delineate noninvasively the reciprocal relationship in vivo between the joint and the draining LN in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).