[Inflammatory spinal diseases: axial spondyloarthritis : Central importance of imaging]

The diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) includes classical ankylosing spondylitis (AS) as well as earlier stages and abortive courses of the disease, in which structural alterations have not yet occurred. These are classified as non-radiographic axSpA (nr-axSpa). Inflammatory changes in the entire axial skeleton are characteristic for axSpA and can be visualized by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), while in most patients structural alterations, such as new bone formation with syndesmophytes and ankylosis develop in the later course of the disease. These bony alterations can best be visualized by conventional radiography and by computed tomography. Certain MRI sequences are nowadays considered as the standard method for depiction of inflammatory changes in axSpA. The introduction of MRI has led to a paradigm shift for this disease because the inflammatory lesions characteristic for the disease can be visualized at an early stage using appropriate MRI sequences.