Thermal characteristics of rheumatoid feet in remission: Baseline data

Gatt, Alfred; Mercieca, Cecilia; Borg, Andrew; Grech, A.; Camilleri, Liberato; Gatt, Corene; Chockalingam, Nachiappan; Formosa, Cynthia

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243078

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of the 20 identified studies, 5 treated the knee joint, 20,29,37,38,46 8 the joints of the hand, 22,32,33,35,39,40,48,49 1 the wrist, 36 2 the joints of the foot, 30,47 and 4 multiple joints 31,41,43,44 ( Table 2 ). Thirteen of these papers 22,29-31,33,35,36,38-41,43,47 reported a statistical difference in joints’ absolute temperature between patients affected by rheumatic diseases and healthy controls. While in these studies the presence of an active inflammation process was detected by IRT as increased temperature, one study 44 used instead of a particular index, the HDI, 11 with the aim to avoid possible biases related to the measurement of the absolute temperature.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Infrared Thermography for the Evaluation of Inflammatory and Degenerative Joint Diseases: A Systematic Review

Schiavon¹,

Capone²,

Frize

et al. 2021

CARTILAGE

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Objective Inflammation plays a central role in the pathophysiology of rheumatic diseases as well as in osteoarthritis. Temperature, which can be quantified using infrared thermography, provides information about the inflammatory component of joint diseases. This systematic review aims at assessing infrared thermography potential and limitations in these pathologies. Design A systematic review was performed on 3 major databases: PubMed, Cochrane library, and Web of Science, on clinical reports of any level of evidence in English language, published from 1990 to May 2021, with infrared thermography used for diagnosis of osteoarthritis and rheumatic diseases, monitoring disease progression, or response to treatment. Relevant data were extracted, collected in a database, and analyzed for the purpose of this systematic review. Results Of 718 screened articles 32 were found to be eligible for inclusion, for a total of 2094 patients. Nine studies reported the application to osteoarthritis, 21 to rheumatic diseases, 2 on both. The publication trend showed an increasing interest in the last decade. Seven studies investigated the correlation of temperature changes with osteoarthritis, 16 with rheumatic diseases, and 2 with both, whereas 2 focused on the pre-post evaluation to investigate treatment results in patients with osteoarthritis and 5 in patients with rheumatic diseases. A correlation was shown between thermal findings and disease presence and stage, as well as the clinical assessment of disease activity and response to treatment, supporting infrared thermography role in the study and management of rheumatic diseases and osteoarthritis. Conclusions The systematic literature review showed an increasing interest in this technology, with several applications in different joints affected by inflammatory and degenerative pathologies. Infrared thermography proved to be a simple, accurate, noninvasive, and radiation-free method, which could be used in addition to the currently available tools for screening, diagnosis, monitoring of disease progression, and response to medical treatment.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infrared Thermography for the Evaluation of Inflammatory and Degenerative Joint Diseases: A Systematic Review

Schiavon¹,

Capone²,

Frize

et al. 2021

CARTILAGE

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“…As suggested by previous research, microcirculatory and temperature measurements might become useful techniques to evaluate healthy, infected, injured, inflamed and treated skin and soft tissues of the foot (Netten et al, 1996;Gatt et al, 2018;Gatt et al, 2020). But, there is abundant room for further progress in determining if these two measurements may be useful for the diagnosis or prognosis of foot ulcers.…”

Section: Interplay Between Microcirculation and Temperature -Vasodilation In Response To Local Heatingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Cutaneous Microcirculatory Responses in Tissue Injury, Inflammation and Repair at the Foot in Diabetes

Balasubramanian

Chockalingam

Naemi

2021

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

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Diabetic foot syndrome is one of the most costly complications of diabetes. Damage to the soft tissue structure is one of the primary causes of diabetic foot ulcers and most of the current literature focuses on factors such as neuropathy and excessive load. Although the role of blood supply has been reported in the context of macro-circulation, soft tissue damage and its healing in the context of skin microcirculation have not been adequately investigated. Previous research suggested that certain microcirculatory responses protect the skin and their impairment may contribute to increased risk for occlusive and ischemic injuries to the foot. The purpose of this narrative review was to explore and establish the possible link between impairment in skin perfusion and the chain of events that leads to ulceration, considering the interaction with other more established ulceration factors. This review highlights some of the key skin microcirculatory functions in response to various stimuli. The microcirculatory responses observed in the form of altered skin blood flow are divided into three categories based on the type of stimuli including occlusion, pressure and temperature. Studies on the three categories were reviewed including: the microcirculatory response to occlusive ischemia or Post-Occlusive Reactive Hyperaemia (PORH); the microcirculatory response to locally applied pressure such as Pressure-Induced Vasodilation (PIV); and the interplay between microcirculation and skin temperature and the microcirculatory responses to thermal stimuli such as reduced/increased blood flow due to cooling/heating. This review highlights how microcirculatory responses protect the skin and the plantar soft tissues and their plausible dysfunction in people with diabetes. Whilst discussing the link between impairment in skin perfusion as a result of altered microcirculatory response, the review describes the chain of events that leads to ulceration. A thorough understanding of the microcirculatory function and its impaired reactive mechanisms is provided, which allows an understanding of the interaction between functional disturbances of microcirculation and other more established factors for foot ulceration.

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“…Based on this evidence, it has been suggested that IRT might have an important role in assessing large and medium joints, lacking effectiveness in the context of small joints. 20,21,33,39 Apart from the diagnostic value of IRT discussed above, its prognostic potential to conduct patient follow-up and/or assess treatment outcomes has been also emphasized by others. IRT is an useful and objective supplementary method to support capacity evaluations to perform work-related activities.…”

Section: Gratt and Sicklesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of thermography in the assessment of temporomandibular disorders and other musculoskeletal conditions: A systematic review

Moreira

Batista

Oliveira

et al. 2021

Proc Inst Mech Eng H

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The aim of this review was to evaluate whether thermal imaging may constitute a reliable assessment method of musculoskeletal and temporomandibular disorders (TMD/MSD). A systematic review was conducted in the Pubmed, Scopus, Cochrane library, Web of Science, and Lilacs databases. The search terms were “musculoskeletal disorders,”“temporomandibular disorders,”“infrared thermography,”“thermography,” and “infrared imaging.” The inclusion criteria were: studies published between January 1985 and January 2021, performed in humans, with sample size equal or greater than 20 patients, written in English, Portuguese, French and/or Spanish, and full text available. The exclusion criteria were: systematic reviews, case studies, and/or studies focused on pathologies beyond the review’s domain. The risk of bias was evaluated using CASP 2018. A total of 2032 articles were retrieved. Of these, 25 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included to withdraw the following information: title, type of study, first author and year of publication, objective, number of participants, comparisons, and principal conclusions. No RCT were found. Despite some disparity, points of convergence among the majority of authors could be found. In general, healthy individuals show subtle thermal differences between contralateral homolog areas. Concerning orofacial structures, unilateral symptomatic individuals may show thermal differences equal or greater than 0.4°C. Infrared thermography accuracy in diagnosing TMD/MSD is still considered low to moderate. Despite some limitations, IRT might constitute a valuable supporting diagnostic tool in the medical field of TMD and MSD.

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Thermal characteristics of rheumatoid feet in remission: Baseline data

Cited by 16 publications

References 14 publications

Infrared Thermography for the Evaluation of Inflammatory and Degenerative Joint Diseases: A Systematic Review

Infrared Thermography for the Evaluation of Inflammatory and Degenerative Joint Diseases: A Systematic Review

The Role of Cutaneous Microcirculatory Responses in Tissue Injury, Inflammation and Repair at the Foot in Diabetes

Role of thermography in the assessment of temporomandibular disorders and other musculoskeletal conditions: A systematic review

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