Early differentiation between different types of inflammatory arthritis and subsequent initiation of modern treatments can improve patient outcomes by reducing disease activity and preventing joint damage. Routine clinical evaluation, laboratory testing, and radiographs are typically sufficient for differentiating between inflammatory and predominantly degenerative arthritis (e.g., osteoarthritis). However, in some patients with inflammatory arthritis, these techniques fail to accurately identify the type of early-stage disease. Further evaluation by ultrasound imaging can delineate the inflammatory arthritis phenotype present. Ultrasound is a noninvasive, cost-effective method that enables the evaluation of several joints at the same time, including functional assessments. Further, ultrasound can visualize pathophysiological changes such as synovitis, tenosynovitis, enthesitis, bone erosions, and crystal deposits at a subclinical level, which makes it an effective technique to identify and differentiate most common types of inflammatory arthritis. Limitations associated with ultrasound imaging should be considered for its use in the differentiation and diagnosis of inflammatory arthritides.

中文翻译：

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超声在识别和区分早期炎症性关节炎患者中的重要性：叙述性回顾。

早期区分不同类型的炎症性关节炎和随后开始采用现代治疗方法，可通过减少疾病活动并预防关节损伤来改善患者预后。常规的临床评估，实验室检查和X射线照片通常足以区分炎症性关节炎和主要为退行性关节炎（例如，骨关节炎）。但是，在某些炎症性关节炎患者中，这些技术无法准确识别早期疾病的类型。通过超声成像的进一步评估可以描述存在的炎性关节炎表型。超声波是一种无创，经济高效的方法，可以同时评估多个关节，包括功能评估。进一步，超声可以在亚临床水平上可视化病理生理变化，例如滑膜炎，腱鞘炎，皮炎，骨侵蚀和晶体沉积，这使其成为识别和区分最常见类型的炎症性关节炎的有效技术。应考虑与超声成像相关的局限性，以用于炎症性关节炎的鉴别和诊断。