Objective: To explore the ultrasonographic characteristics of peripheral nerves in primary systemic vasculitis (psV). Methods: Fifteen patients with psV, 36 with secondary systemic vasculitis (ssV) and 109 healthy controls (HC) were consecutively recruited. Nerve ultrasound was conducted to obtain cross-sectional area (CSA) at predetermined peripheral nerve sites and to detect hypervascularization. Results: Nerve enlargement was detected in all 15 psV patients, mainly distributing in a multifocal pattern. Compared to ssV patients, remarkable nerve enlargement was showed at M2-M5, M8-M10 segment of the median nerve, U2-U4 segment, U8 and U10 point of ulnar nerve, upper trunk, fibular nerve and sciatic nerve (P < 0.05) in psV patients. Hypervascularization was detected in 8 (53.33%) psV and 17 (47.22%) ssV patients, respectively. Conclusion: Multifocal nerve enlargement was common in patients with psV. Compared to patients with ssV, nerve enlargement in psV patients presented in the more proximal segment with a higher degree, possibly due to the differences in disease duration. Hypervascularization was common in psV patients and might be related to an active inflammatory state of the peripheral nerve.
Hu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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