A comparative MRI study of cartilage damage in gout versus rheumatoid arthritis.

Introduction: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful for detecting joint inflammation and damage in the inflammatory arthropathies. This study aimed to investigate MRI cartilage damage and its associations with joint inflammation in patients with gout compared with a group with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Forty patients with gout and 38 with seropositive RA underwent 3T-MRI of the wrist with assessment of cartilage damage at six carpal sites, using established scoring systems.

Exploring cartilage damage in gout using 3-T MRI: distribution and associations with joint inflammation and tophus deposition.

Objective: Few imaging studies have investigated cartilage in gout. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can image cartilage damage and also reveals other features of gouty arthropathy. The objective was to develop and validate a system for quantifying cartilage damage in gout.

MRI osteitis predicts cartilage damage at the wrist in RA: a three-year prospective 3T MRI study examining cartilage damage.

Introduction: Cartilage damage impacts on patient disability in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aims of this magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study were to investigate cartilage damage over three years and determine predictive factors.

Methods: A total of 38 RA patients and 22 controls were enrolled at t = 0 (2009).

Bone erosions in patients with chronic gouty arthropathy are associated with tophi but not bone oedema or synovitis: new insights from a 3 T MRI study.

Objectives: Bone erosion has been linked with tophus deposition in gout but the roles of osteitis (MRI bone oedema) and synovitis remain uncertain. Our aims in this prospective 3 T MRI study were to investigate the frequency of these features in gout and determine their relation to one another.

Methods: 3 T MRI scans of the wrist were obtained in 40 gout patients.

New insights into an old disease: advanced imaging in the diagnosis and management of gout.

Advanced imaging modalities including MRI, ultrasound (US), CT and dual energy CT have important applications in gout. While conventional radiography (X-ray) remains the most widely used form of imaging in the clinical setting and is helpful in revealing erosions in chronic gout, these new imaging tools can reveal joint damage and tophi at a much earlier stage. As all are multiplanar techniques, they can define the position and dimensions of tophi, with startling clarity, as well as the size and extent of bone erosions.