Computed tomography of the sacroiliac joints: comparison with complex-motion tomography

Forty-seven patients with sacroiliac joint abnormalities were examined with computed tomography and conventional complex-motion tomography. Twenty-nine patients had spondyloarthritis. Of the 29, complex-motion tomography detected bone erosions in 16 patients, whereas computed tomography revealed erosions in nine. Computed tomography was more sensitive in detection of joint narrowing, joint widening, osteosclerosis, and intraarticular bony ankylosis. In the remaining 13 patients, computed tomography was the modality of choice in detection of paraarticular soft tissue pathology, such as abscess or tumor, and in detection of the lesions involving the sacral canal and neural foramina.