Musculoskeletal ultrasound in México 10 years after its inception.

Musculoskeletal Sonography or ultrasound is currently one of the most useful tools in the daily practice of rheumatologists. Its benefit in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of progress and response to treatment of patients with rheumatic diseases has been confirmed by two studies. Since the last quarter of the twentieth century, concern emerged among rheumatologists in Europe’s with regard to the emerging diagnostic technologies applied in rheumatology, particularly musculoskeletal ultrasound. The Ultrasound School of the Mexican College of Rheumatology (ECOMER) originated with the twenty-first century, specifically in 2001, when reports on the application of this imaging technique in the field of rheumatology began to appear. It was during the XXIX Mexican Congress of Rheumatology held in the city of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, where Dr. Esperanza Naredo, today director of the ultrasound school of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology, gave a lecture on musculoskeletal ultrasound in rheumatology. Many who were there were astonished by the usefulness of this imaging technique which promised to be one of the most important complementary tools in the clinical practice of rheumatologist, a previously cherished dream by some colleagues. The interest and impact generated by the new diagnostic tool were such that Dr. Naredo was asked to repeat the conference a day later so a greater number of colleagues could hear it. Later that same year, Dr. Carlos Pineda, a rheumatologist, expert in the area of imaging, and Dr. Mario Chavez, a rheumatologist with just two years of clinical practice, were trained simultaneously, although in different cities in the months of September and December. Dr. J. Antonio Bouffard, then a radiologist at Henry Ford Hospital and who is currently in the Detroit Medical Center in Detroit, US, and is a renowned expert and pioneer in the area, was responsible for the formation of Dr. Pineda; in addition, one of his most prominent disciples, Dr. Naredo, a pioneering rheumatologist in the application of technology to our field, addressed Dr. Chavez’s