Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To characterize vascular lesions in SSc disease with high-resolution magnetic resonance angiography (Micro-MRA) of the finger.
METHODS
Eight SSc subjects and eight age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited for this study. Among the SSc subjects, the mean +/- s.d. age was 54.5 +/- 4.9 yrs, and the mean +/- s.d. duration of disease was 8.3 +/- 8.4 yrs. The numbers of SSc subjects that had telangiectasia, calcinosis and impaired finger flexion were 3, 2 and 3, respectively. The 2D time-of-flight micro-MRA was performed on a 3T clinical MRI scanner using a custom-designed finger coil with an in-plane resolution of 0.16 x 0.21 mm(2) and slice thickness of 1.2 mm. The data for the proper palmar digital artery lumen area, the number of visible dorsal digital veins and a semi-quantitative vascular score, which evaluates the overall integrity of digital vessels, were independently evaluated by two experienced reviewers who were blinded to the status of the subject.
RESULTS
Micro-MRA detected significant differences in the digital vasculature between SSc subjects and healthy volunteers. The SSc subjects had a significantly decreased digital artery lumen area (0.13 +/- 0.06 vs 0.53 +/- 0.26 mm(2), P < 0.001), a reduced number of digital veins (0.63 +/- 1.06 vs 3.13 +/- 0.99, P = 0.001) and a lowered overall vascular score (1.75 +/- 1.04 vs 3.5 +/- 0.53, P = 0.001). The study also found that both the digital artery lumen area (Pearson's; r = -0.72, P = 0.044) and vascular scores (Spearman's; rho = -0.75, P = 0.047) of the SSc subjects were inversely correlated with the duration of the disease.
CONCLUSIONS
Micro-MRA can be used to identify and quantitatively characterize the vascular disease in SSc fingers. The parameters derived from micro-MRA could potentially be used as prospective biomarkers for clinical evaluation.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Wang J, Yarnykh VL, Molitor JA, Nash RA, Chu B, Wilson GJ, Fleming J, Schwartz SM, Yuan C

Institution

Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, USA. jnwang@u.washington.edu

Source

Rheumatology (Oxford, England) 47:8 2008 Aug pg 1239-43

MeSH

Female
Fingers
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Angiography
Male
Microcirculation
Middle Aged
Observer Variation
Scleroderma, Systemic
Time Factors

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

18559373