Using magnetic resonance angiography to measure abnormal synovial blood vessels in early inflammatory arthritis: a new imaging biomarker?

Objective: To ascertain whether magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) can reliably detect synovial neovascularization in subjects with early inflammatory arthritis.

Methods: Subjects with 6 weeks to 6 months of clinical evidence of inflammatory hand arthritis had a radiograph, power Doppler ultrasound (PDU) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and contrast enhanced MRA performed on the more symptomatic hand. Ultrasound examination of the wrist and 2nd-5th metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints was scored for erosions, synovial thickening, and synovial blood flow.

The complementary roles of MR imaging and ultrasound of tendons.

The choice to use MR imaging or ultrasound to depict tendon pathology has traditionally depended on the imager's level of experience and comfort with the modality, and less so the individual strengths of either modality. Although this may be an acceptable rationale, it does not fully take advantage of the strength of either modality or the potential benefits of combining both modalities. This article demonstrates the complementary roles of these two modalities through a variety of clinical examples, based on experience working in a subspecialty hospital dedicated to orthopedic and rheumatologic diseases.