HUSHED 1. High quality Ultrasound Scoring of sHeath and tEndon Disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
HUSHED - High quality Ultrasound Scoring of sHeath and tEndon Disease
IRAS ID
163532
Contact name
Laura H Horton
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 27 days
Research summary
Tendons are strong connective tissue structures that connect muscles to bones. Tendons and muscles work together to move bones.
Some tendons are surrounded by a synovial sheath which helps the tendons move freely by providing lubrication and protection from friction. Tendons and their sheaths can be affected by trauma, overuse, age related degeneration and inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.
The causes of tendon pain and degeneration are many, with tendon disease and tearing a common diagnosis in sports, rheumatology and orthopaedic clinics.
There are a range of ultrasound imaging representations of this pathology, with a corresponding number of inferences that can be drawn from the study of these appearances regarding chronicity and severity of disease/degeneration.It is widely thought that degeneration is due to a failed healing response, or dysrepair following repeated micro trauma, while tendon changes in the presence of inflammatory arthritis is due to invasion by inflammatory joint fluid.
This project will study ultrasound appearances of painful tendons of the ankle and wrist.
The objective of the study is to develop a valid, reliable and simple-to-use semi-quantitative ultrasound scale for grading tendon degeneration, with subsequent production of an atlas of images depicting the range of scores which would be assigned to varying grades of tendon/sheath disease.Since, by definition tenosynovitis refers to two structures, the tendon and it’s sheath, it would be prudent to grade changes in these structures separately.
This is especially relevant in the context of inflammatory arthritis, as there can often be seen a grossly abnormal appearing sheath enveloping an ultrasonically normal tendon.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/YH/1279
Date of REC Opinion
30 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion