Vascular foramen

Working group OMERACT > OMERACT Task Force on NORMAL VESSELS

Objective of the subgroups work:

- to define vascular foramina and to differentiate them from early bone erosion

- to create an atlas of vascular foramina and feeding vessels in joints and entheses

What is the contribution of the subgroup work to the OMERACT work?

The improvement of our knowledge concerning vascular foramina and feeding vessels will allow to improve the interpretation of ultrasound examination

For erosion: the actual definition of erosion in RA may lead to a misinterpretation of ultrasound examination in healthy subjects where “erosion-like” features may be observed. There is a need to clarify the definition of vascular foramina appearing as physiological cortical in healthy subject in order to distinguish them from real erosion corresponding to pathological process.
For entheses: the knowledge of the normal vascularisation of entheses will allow to avoid misinterpretation and false positive for the ultrasound examination of enthesitis.

Description of the previous work

- Systematic literature review: at the beginning of the task force, no articles on this subject was found and it was not possible to perform a SLR

- Delphi for the definition of vascular foramina

Collection of images of high quality for the creation of an atlas (ongoing work)

Next steps and discussion points

Finalise the definition of vascular foramina (Delphi, last round)
Collection of images for both vascular foramina and feeding vessels of the entheses