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Updated: Jul 2, 2025

Software-Assisted Quantitative Measurement of Osteoarthritic Subchondral Bone Thickness
Published on: March 18, 2022
Association between sacroiliac joint forms and subchondral changes in patients with Crohn's disease
Oksana Melekh1, Felix Barajas Ordonez2, Bohdan Melekh1
1University Clinic for Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
Aim:
To assess the relationship between anatomical variants of sacroiliac joint (SIJ) and subchondral changes detected in magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) in patients with Crohn's disease (CD).
Methods:
This was a retrospective study of 60 CD patients, who were divided into two groups: with (n = 16) and without SIJ (n = 44) involvement, depending on the presence of inflammatory (bone marrow edema) and structural changes (sclerosis and erosions) in MRE. Anatomical variants of SIJ were assessed in CT of the abdomen and/or pelvis, distinguishing typical form with convex iliac surface and atypical forms. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to reveal an association between joint changes and forms.
Results:
Our study included 60 patients (38 males; mean age 38.72 years ± 13.33). Patients with SIJ changes were older (p = .044). No significant differences in CD localization and behavior were found. The most common SIJ lesions were structural changes (in 75% of patients); the main atypical form was the iliosacral complex. The univariate and multivariate analyses showed a significant association of atypical forms with total subchondral changes (odds ratio [OR]: 3.429, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.043-11.268; p = .042; OR: 5.066, 95% CI: 1.273-20.167; p = .021, respectively), and with structural changes (OR: 4.185, 95% CI: 1.155-15.160; p = .029; OR: 5.986, 95% CI: 1.293-27.700; p = .022, respectively).
Conclusion:
Atypical forms of SIJ are a risk factor for the occurrence of structural joint changes in CD patients. An association between bone marrow edema and atypical forms was not found.
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