Age dependent ultrasound B-mode findings of the elbow joint in healthy children and adolescents

Due to maturation of joints, various changes take place, not only in the field of paediatric rheumatology but also in paediatric orthopaedics musculoskeletal ultrasound plays an important role in both the diagnosis and the follow-up of diseases in this field. To differentiate between physiological and pathological findings, the knowledge of reference values of joint structures is indispensable. The objective was to define B-mode ultrasound age- and sex-related reference values for the elbow joint in healthy children and adolescents during maturation. In a cross-sectional, multicentre ultrasound study we examined both sides of the elbow joints of 437 healthy children and adolescents (194 boys/243 girls) being between one and less than 18 years old. The children were classified into six equal age groups and divided according to their gender. We measured the distance between the outer margin of the joint capsule and the bone surface to define the bone-capsule distance (BCD), the thickness of the joint cartilage as well as the thickness of the joint capsule. The bone–capsule junction zone and the shape of the joint capsule were analysed qualitatively. The bone capsule distance and the capsule thickness increased with age. In contrast, the joint cartilage thickness decreased. In most cases the junction zone was peaked. The joint capsule showed mostly a concave shape. Intra- and interobserver reliabilities were good. We propose B-mode ultrasound age- and sex-related reference values for the elbow joint in a large number of healthy children and adolescents for the first time. By applying these standard values to the ultrasound examination of the elbow joint, it may be possible to achieve greater certainty in the diagnosis of pathological processes.