Abstract
BackgroundAnkylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disorder which usually begins in early adulthood. The diagnosis is often delayed by many years. MR imaging has become the preferred imaging method for detection of early inflammation of the axial skeleton in ankylosing spondylitis.The goal of this study was to assess the frequency and distribution of abnormalities on whole body MR imaging in patients with suspected early ankylosing spondylitis and with active confirmed ankylosing spondylitis.MethodsTen patients with suspected early ankylosing spondylitis and ten patients with confirmed ankylosing spondylitis were enrolled. On an 18-channel MR system, coronal and sagittal T1 weighted and STIR sequences were acquired covering the entire spine, sacrum, anterior chest wall, shoulder girdle, and pelvis. The total examination time was 30 minutes.ResultsIn both groups inflammatory lesions of the lower thoracic spine were frequent (number of patients with suspected early/confirmed ankylosing spondylitis: 7/9). In confirmed ankylosing spondylitis the upper thoracic spine (3/6) and the lumbar spine (4/8) were more commonly involved. The inferior iliac quadrant of the sacroiliac joints was frequently altered in both groups (8/8). The superior iliac (2/5), inferior sacral (6/10) and superior sacral (3/6) quadrants were more frequently affected in confirmed ankylosing spondylitis. Abnormalities of the manubriosternal joint (2/4), the sternoclavicular joints (1/2) and hip joint effusion (4/3) were also seen.ConclusionIn both suspected early ankylosing spondylitis and confirmed ankylosing spondylitis, whole body MR examinations frequently demonstrate inflammatory lesions outside the sacroiliac joints. These lesions are similarly distributed but occur less frequently in suspected early compared to confirmed ankylosing spondylitis. Due to the small sample size in this pilot study these results need to be confirmed in larger studies with this emerging technique.
Highlights
Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disorder which usually begins in early adulthood
The superior iliac (2/5), inferior sacral (6/10) and superior sacral (3/6) quadrants were more frequently affected in confirmed ankylosing spondylitis
Due to the small sample size in this pilot study these results need to be confirmed in larger studies with this emerging technique
Summary
Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disorder which usually begins in early adulthood. The goal of this study was to assess the frequency and distribution of abnormalities on whole body MR imaging in patients with suspected early ankylosing spondylitis and with active confirmed ankylosing spondylitis. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disorder mainly affecting the sacroiliac (SI) joints and the spine. The leading symptom is inflammatory back pain. Imaging may play an important role in assessing disease activity at an early stage and for the follow-up of the disorder under these recently introduced treatment options. Inflammatory back pain (IBP) is the leading early symptom of the closely interrelated forms of spondyloarthropathies, AS being the most common entity of this disease group [7]
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