Venous vessel-wall assessment with superb microvascular imaging in Behçet syndrome

Objectives Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) provides a more sensitive assessment of small vessels compared with power and colour Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS and CDUS). We aimed to investigate the potential of SMI for use in research and clinical practice in Behçet syndrome (BS) and to gain a bet...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gulen Hatemi, Yesim Ozguler, Melike Melikoğlu, Sinem Nihal Esatoglu, İbrahim Adaletli, Yasemin Kayadibi, Ugur Kimyon, Ayse Kalyoncu Ucar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2025-04-01
Series:RMD Open
Online Access:https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/11/2/e005382.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849710077911498752
author Gulen Hatemi
Yesim Ozguler
Melike Melikoğlu
Sinem Nihal Esatoglu
İbrahim Adaletli
Yasemin Kayadibi
Ugur Kimyon
Ayse Kalyoncu Ucar
author_facet Gulen Hatemi
Yesim Ozguler
Melike Melikoğlu
Sinem Nihal Esatoglu
İbrahim Adaletli
Yasemin Kayadibi
Ugur Kimyon
Ayse Kalyoncu Ucar
author_sort Gulen Hatemi
collection DOAJ
description Objectives Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) provides a more sensitive assessment of small vessels compared with power and colour Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS and CDUS). We aimed to investigate the potential of SMI for use in research and clinical practice in Behçet syndrome (BS) and to gain a better understanding of erythema nodosum (EN) like and superficial thrombophlebitis (STM) lesions using SMI.Methods We studied 51 patients with BS and 31 patients with non-BS with red palpable lesions on physical examination. B-mode US, CDUS, PDUS and SMI were performed and recorded by the same radiologist and recorded images were additionally evaluated independently by another radiologist. Vessel-wall signal intensity of STM lesions by SMI was graded in four groups according to the percentages of the affected vessel-wall area (Grade 0: no signal, Grade 1: < 25%, Grade 2: 25%–50%, Grade 3: 50%–75% and Grade 4: >75%).Results The lesions of 26 patients with BS and 17 patients with non-BS were diagnosed as STM with CDUS. SMI of STM lesions revealed vessel-wall signals in 21/26 patients with BS (81%), in contrast to only 3/17 (18%) patients with non-BS. While 16 of 21 patients with BS (76%) had at least grade 2 signal, only 1 of 3 non-BS had it. Lesions of 25 BS and 11 non-BS were diagnosed as EN by CDUS and SMI showed no vessel-wall signal in these patients.Conclusions Evaluation of the vessel wall with SMI in BS may be a promising approach for showing inflammation as an inexpensive, non-invasive and reliable imaging method that does not require a contrast agent.
format Article
id doaj-art-8a3ea8a71ccf488ab57cfd812f8a2021
institution DOAJ
issn 2056-5933
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series RMD Open
spelling doaj-art-8a3ea8a71ccf488ab57cfd812f8a20212025-08-20T03:15:03ZengBMJ Publishing GroupRMD Open2056-59332025-04-0111210.1136/rmdopen-2024-005382Venous vessel-wall assessment with superb microvascular imaging in Behçet syndromeGulen Hatemi0Yesim Ozguler1Melike Melikoğlu2Sinem Nihal Esatoglu3İbrahim Adaletli4Yasemin Kayadibi5Ugur Kimyon6Ayse Kalyoncu Ucar7Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, TurkeyCerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, TurkeyCerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, TurkeyCerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, TurkeyCerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Radiology, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, TurkeyCerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Radiology, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, TurkeyCerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, TurkeyCerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Radiology, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, TurkeyObjectives Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) provides a more sensitive assessment of small vessels compared with power and colour Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS and CDUS). We aimed to investigate the potential of SMI for use in research and clinical practice in Behçet syndrome (BS) and to gain a better understanding of erythema nodosum (EN) like and superficial thrombophlebitis (STM) lesions using SMI.Methods We studied 51 patients with BS and 31 patients with non-BS with red palpable lesions on physical examination. B-mode US, CDUS, PDUS and SMI were performed and recorded by the same radiologist and recorded images were additionally evaluated independently by another radiologist. Vessel-wall signal intensity of STM lesions by SMI was graded in four groups according to the percentages of the affected vessel-wall area (Grade 0: no signal, Grade 1: < 25%, Grade 2: 25%–50%, Grade 3: 50%–75% and Grade 4: >75%).Results The lesions of 26 patients with BS and 17 patients with non-BS were diagnosed as STM with CDUS. SMI of STM lesions revealed vessel-wall signals in 21/26 patients with BS (81%), in contrast to only 3/17 (18%) patients with non-BS. While 16 of 21 patients with BS (76%) had at least grade 2 signal, only 1 of 3 non-BS had it. Lesions of 25 BS and 11 non-BS were diagnosed as EN by CDUS and SMI showed no vessel-wall signal in these patients.Conclusions Evaluation of the vessel wall with SMI in BS may be a promising approach for showing inflammation as an inexpensive, non-invasive and reliable imaging method that does not require a contrast agent.https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/11/2/e005382.full
spellingShingle Gulen Hatemi
Yesim Ozguler
Melike Melikoğlu
Sinem Nihal Esatoglu
İbrahim Adaletli
Yasemin Kayadibi
Ugur Kimyon
Ayse Kalyoncu Ucar
Venous vessel-wall assessment with superb microvascular imaging in Behçet syndrome
RMD Open
title Venous vessel-wall assessment with superb microvascular imaging in Behçet syndrome
title_full Venous vessel-wall assessment with superb microvascular imaging in Behçet syndrome
title_fullStr Venous vessel-wall assessment with superb microvascular imaging in Behçet syndrome
title_full_unstemmed Venous vessel-wall assessment with superb microvascular imaging in Behçet syndrome
title_short Venous vessel-wall assessment with superb microvascular imaging in Behçet syndrome
title_sort venous vessel wall assessment with superb microvascular imaging in behcet syndrome
url https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/11/2/e005382.full
work_keys_str_mv AT gulenhatemi venousvesselwallassessmentwithsuperbmicrovascularimaginginbehcetsyndrome
AT yesimozguler venousvesselwallassessmentwithsuperbmicrovascularimaginginbehcetsyndrome
AT melikemelikoglu venousvesselwallassessmentwithsuperbmicrovascularimaginginbehcetsyndrome
AT sinemnihalesatoglu venousvesselwallassessmentwithsuperbmicrovascularimaginginbehcetsyndrome
AT ibrahimadaletli venousvesselwallassessmentwithsuperbmicrovascularimaginginbehcetsyndrome
AT yaseminkayadibi venousvesselwallassessmentwithsuperbmicrovascularimaginginbehcetsyndrome
AT ugurkimyon venousvesselwallassessmentwithsuperbmicrovascularimaginginbehcetsyndrome
AT aysekalyoncuucar venousvesselwallassessmentwithsuperbmicrovascularimaginginbehcetsyndrome