Key clinical point: Ultrasound in rheumatoid arthritis patients identified new or persistent synovitis in joint replacements and operations of joint areas and detected response to treatment in replaced joints.

Major finding: At baseline, all replaced joints had grayscale ultrasound scores greater than 1 and 92% had power Doppler scores greater than 1; both of these scores showed significant improvement with treatment in replaced joints.

Study details: The data come from 20 rheumatoid arthritis patients with 25 replaced joints and 24 operations of joint areas (e.g. joint arthroscopies, fusions, and synovectomies) who were enrolled in tocilizumab or tofacitinib trials and assessed by ultrasound.

Disclosures: The study was supported by investigator-initiated grants from Genentech and Pfizer. Several authors disclosed relationships with multiple companies, including Genentech and Pfizer.