Rheumatoid arthritis: what do MRI and ultrasound show

• Authors: Iwona Sudoł-Szopińska , Lennart Jans , James Teh

Title variants

PL

Reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów w badaniu MR i ultrasonografii

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common inflammatory arthritis, affecting approximately 1% of the world’s population. Its pathogenesis has not been completely understood. However, there is evidence that the disease may involve synovial joints, subchondral bone marrow as well as intra- and extraarticular fat tissue, and may lead to progressive joint destruction and disability. Over the last two decades, significant improvement in its prognosis has been achieved owing to new strategies for disease management, the emergence of new biologic therapies and better utilization of conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Prompt diagnosis and appropriate therapy have been recognized as essential for improving clinical outcomes in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Despite the potential of ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging to visualize all tissues typically involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis, the diagnosis of early disease remains difficult due to limited specificity of findings. This paper summarizes the pathogenesis phenomena of rheumatoid arthritis and describes rheumatoid arthritis-related features of the disease within the synovium, subchondral bone marrow and articular fat tissue on MRI and ultrasound. Moreover, the paper aims to illustrate the significance of MRI and ultrasound findings in rheumatoid arthritis in the diagnosis of subclinical and early inflammation, and the importance of MRI and US in the follow-up and establishing remission. Finally, we also discuss MRI of the spine in rheumatoid arthritis, which may help assess the presence of active inflammation and complications.

PL

Reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów (RZS) jest najczęstszą chorobą zapalną stawów, występującą u ok. 1% populacji światowej(1). Charakteryzuje się zapaleniem błony maziowej oraz zapaleniem kości, które prowadzą do powstania nadżerek kostnych, niszczenia chrząstki stawowej, destrukcji stawu, a co za tym idzie – trwałej niepełnosprawności(2). W ciągu ostatnich 20 lat znacznie poprawiło się rokowanie u chorych na reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów dzięki wprowadzeniu nowych strategii leczenia, zastosowaniu terapii biologicznej i lepszemu wykorzystaniu konwencjonalnych leków modyfikujących przebieg choroby(1). Szybka diagnoza i wdrożenie odpowiedniego leczenia stały się kluczowe dla uzyskania dobrego wyniku leczenia u chorych z wczesnym RZS(1). Artykuł w wersji polskojęzycznej jest dostępny na stronie http://jultrason.pl/wydawnictwa/volume-17-no-68

Keywords

EN

early arthritis; imaging; magnetic resonanceimaging; rheumatoid arthritis; ultrasonography

Discipline

• MEDICINE: MEDICINE

• Publisher: Medical Communications
• Journal: Journal of Ultrasonography
• Year: 2017
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 68
• Pages: 5–16

Contributors

author

Iwona Sudoł-Szopińska

• Department of Radiology, National Institute of Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, Warsaw, Poland; Imaging Diagnostic Department, Warsaw Medical University, Warsaw, Poland

author

Lennart Jans

• Department of Radiology, Ghent University Hospital, Gent, Belgium

author

James Teh

• Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom

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• Document Type: article