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CompletedNCT02902562CEUSUpdated Apr 17, 2019

Synovitis and Therapy Response in Inflammatory Arthritis With Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound

An interventional study of Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in Synovitis and Rheumatoid Arthritis, sponsored by University of Southern California. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-04-17.

Sponsored by University of Southern California · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
16
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study is about using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to assess the degree of synovitis (joint inflammation) in patients with inflammatory arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and whether it can be used for assessing a treatment response. The investigators hope to learn whether contrast enhanced ultrasounds are better than regular imaging techniques, such as MRI, when used to evaluate the response to disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy in inflammatory arthritis.

Read the detailed description

Inflammatory arthritis affects approximately 1% of the world population and can lead to significant pain and disability. Although radiographs can identify characteristic patterns of joint space narrowing and erosive changes, these findings are typically late findings and represent irreversible damage. With the development of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), the goal is now to identify the pre-erosive inflammatory features and identify the patients that progress further into severe functional debility if not treated immediately.

MRI with gadolinium enhancement is proven to be very effective in early detection of soft tissue, bone erosions, synovitis, the integrity of ligaments, cartilage and bone marrow edema. However, MRI is expensive, may be impractical for assessing multiple joints and has relatively long examination time. Some patients may have claustrophobia and some may have contraindications to gadolinium administration. The investigators overarching goal is to determine whether the perfusion information provided by novel ultrasound based techniques such as, contrast enhanced ultrasound and superb microvascular imaging, can be used for assessment of treatment response to DMARD therapy for inflammatory arthritis. The recent advances in evaluation of vascularity of the tumors using contrast ultrasound technique can also be applied to rheumatological diseases. It is ideal to develop a sensitive imaging technique that can be routinely available and is relatively cheap. Ultrasound is available and has low cost and can be used for assessment of treatment response to DMARD therapy

02

Conditions studied

  • Synovitis
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
03

In context

Synovitis

53 studies on the registry are indexed under Synovitis; 12 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 16 is below the median of 70 across 29 interventional studies indexed under Synovitis.

Browse Synovitis studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Southern California is the lead sponsor of 791 studies on the registry; 136 are open to participants now.

Of its 70 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 32 (46%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients (≥ 18 years of age) that meet diagnostic criteria for an inflammatory arthritis.
  • Clinical suspicion of active synovitis involving at least one target joint.
  • Patients competent to sign study specific .
  • Patients willing to comply with protocol requirements.
  • Intent to treat with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who are pregnant or less than 18 years of age.
  • Patients who have a known cardiac shunt or pulmonary hypertension.
  • Patients with any known to perflutren or gadolinium contrast agents or renal insufficiency ( \< 30 mL/min).
  • Patients who cannot consent for themselves.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(3)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

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You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
16 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Other
    Study Visit

    You will have a Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which will take about 2 hours.

    Procedure: Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS) · Procedure: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Interventions

  • ProcedureContrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS)

    An intravenous line (IV) line will be inserted into a vein in your arm. You will be asked to lie on a table for the ultrasound imaging. First, a regular ultrasound (without contrast) will be performed and the images will be recorded. For the contrast enhanced ultrasound, the contrast agent will be injected into your IV line. We will perform another ultrasound and the images will be recorded

  • ProcedureMagnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

    For the contrast MRI, the contrast agent will be injected into your IV line The MRI scanner is a small, tunnel-like machine in which a patient will be required to lie still for a long period of time. There is little space inside the scanner, which causes anxiety and discomfort for patients who fear enclosed spaces. A technician will be present at all times during the examination to communicate with you about how you are feeling.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Kappa coefficient

    To assess the inter-reader agreement as well as the agreement between CEUS versus MRI determined treatment response.

    Time frame: 12 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • USC Department of Radiology
    Los Angeles, California 90033, United States
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from Aug 2016 to primary completion in Jul 2018, 22 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Aug 29, 2016
First posted
Sep 16, 2016
StartActual
Aug 31, 2016
Primary completionActual
Jul 17, 2018
CompletionActual
Aug 22, 2018
Last update
Apr 17, 2019
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 17, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02902562
Collaborators
Wright Foundation
Responsible party
George Matcuk (Associate Professor, University of Southern California) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 16, 2016
Start date
Aug 31, 2016
Primary completion
Jul 17, 2018
Completion
Aug 22, 2018
Last update
Apr 17, 2019

Study contacts

George R Matcuk, MD
principal investigator · University of Southern California

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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