oa Editorial [Hot Topic: Challenges in Musculoskeletal Ultrasound (Guest Editor: Esperanza Naredo)]

Over the last decade, musculoskeletal (MS) ultrasound (US) has played an increasingly important role in optimizing clinical assessment and monitoring of patients with rheumatologic diseases in clinical practice. We could also say that MSUS is now at the cutting edge of research in rheumatology. High-resolution MSUS with Doppler technique provides an accurate and sensitive assessment of joint inflammatory activity and structural damage in inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis. This technique allows a detailed diagnosis of soft tissue syndromes. There have been an increasing number of papers on the role and validity of US for evaluating the above abnormalities. However, some aspects such as the use of MSUS in clinical trials or how to measure US abnormalities are more challenging to address. Technical improvements in high-resolution US have facilitated the evolution of applications of this imaging modality that are worthy of attention. These include US assessment of the skin and dermatologic diseases, US diagnosis of hand and foot ligaments lesions, and US study of complex anatomic areas in the musculoskeletal system with potential utility for rheumatologists.