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Characteristic magnetic resonance imaging entheseal changes of knee synovitis in spondylarthropathy
D McGonagle1, W Gibbon, P O'Connor
1University of Leeds, UK.
Objective:
To use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondylarthropathy (SpA) to determine if the primary site of abnormality differs.
Methods:
Twenty patients with recent-onset knee effusion (10 with SpA and 10 with RA) were evaluated using fat-suppressed MRI. Knee joint effusion and synovitis were confirmed using ultrasonography. MRI scans were independently scored by 2 observers who were blinded to the patient's diagnosis.
Results:
All 10 of the SpA patients, but only 4 of the 10 RA patients, had focal peri-entheseal high signal (compatible with fluid or edema) outside the joint (P = 0.01). Six of the SpA patients had bone marrow edema that was maximal at entheseal insertions; in 4 cases this was multifocal. No RA patients showed such an abnormality (P = 0.01).
Conclusion:
Prominent entheseal abnormalities on MRI are a consistent feature of new-onset synovitis in SpA, but are a minor feature of RA. This finding has important implications for the diagnosis, classification, and mechanisms of synovitis in patients with SpA.