Systematic assessment of inflammation by magnetic resonance imaging in the posterior elements of the spine in ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is sensitive for scoring inflammatory lesions in the spine, but attention has primarily focused on vertebral bodies, and no study has systematically examined the posterior elements. We aimed to systematically determine the frequency and distribution of inflammatory changes in the posterior elements of the spine using MRI, and to assess the reliability of their detection and their impact on discrimination of spinal MRI.

Methods: We scanned 32 patients recruited to placebo-controlled trials of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy.

Magnetic resonance imaging assessment of spinal inflammation in ankylosing spondylitis: standard clinical protocols may omit inflammatory lesions in thoracic vertebrae.

Objective: Radiologic assessment of spinal inflammation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) relies primarily on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), although little is known about the distribution of inflammatory lesions within the structures of the spine. Our objective was to compare the distribution of inflammatory lesions centrally and laterally within the thoracic and lumbar spine vertebral bodies.

Methods: We studied 49 patients with AS who were scanned with STIR and T1-weighted spin-echo MRI of the whole spine.

Validation of the spondyloarthritis research consortium of Canada magnetic resonance imaging spinal inflammation index: is it necessary to score the entire spine?

Objective: The Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) spinal inflammation index has been developed to objectively measure inflammation in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and to assess change in response to therapeutic intervention. Scoring of the entire spine limits feasibility and a scoring method that records inflammation in only the more severely affected spinal segments may improve feasibility without sacrificing performance.

Methods: MRI films of 68 patients with AS were assessed in random order by 2 blinded readers.

Spondyloarthritis research Consortium of Canada magnetic resonance imaging index for assessment of sacroiliac joint inflammation in ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: To develop a feasible magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based scoring system for sacroiliac joint inflammation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) that requires minimal scan time, does not require contrast enhancement, evaluates lesions separately at each articular surface, and limits the number of sacroiliac images that are scored.

Methods: A scoring method based on the assessment of increased signal denoting bone marrow edema on T2-weighted STIR sequences was used. MRI films were assessed blindly in random order at 2 sites by multiple readers.

Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada magnetic resonance imaging index for assessment of spinal inflammation in ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: To develop a feasible magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based scoring system for spinal inflammation in patients with spondylarthropathy that requires minimal scan time, does not require contrast enhancement, evaluates the extent of lesions in 3 dimensional planes, and limits the number of vertebral levels that are scored because MRI demonstrates characteristic inflammatory lesions in the spine of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) prior to the development of typical features on plain radiographic.

Methods: Our scoring method was based entirely on the assessment of increased signal denoting bone marrow edema on T2-weighted STIR sequences. Blinded MRI films were assessed in random order at 2 sites by 3 blinded readers at each of the 2 sites (the Universities of Alberta and Toronto).