Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative and progressive joint disease that causes physical disability and impaired quality of life. It most commonly affects the elderly population. Classically, the knees, hips, lumbar-sacral spine, neck, feet and hands are involved. Imaging techniques have been demonstrated to play an important role in the diagnosis and monitoring of OA. The radiographic abnormalities of OA are joint space narrowing, osteophytes, subchondral cysts and subchondral sclerosis. X-ray examination is fast, inexpensive and readily applicable in almost all settings. Magnetic resonance imaging is a non-invasive technique that allows direct visualisation of all components of the joint. This imaging technique has the ability to image, with higher sensitivity than X-ray, morphological changes in cartilage, bone, bone marrow and surrounding soft-tissue structures (such as ligaments, synovium and menisci). Ultrasound is commonly used in daily clinical practice to evaluate and monitor patients with OA because is a non-invasive, realtime imaging tool that shows the presence of many pathological features of OA involving the articular cartilage, bony cortex and synovial tissue, and allows injection into OA joints under guidance; moreover, compared with X-ray, ultrasound enables multiplanar and dynamic joint examination. Computed tomography and scintigraphy do not play an important role in the assessment of patients with OA; indeed, only limited data are available about the relevance of these techniques for the evaluation of chronic joint diseases. In conclusion, X-ray remains the gold standard imaging technique in daily clinical practice and in clinical trials for the evaluation of patients with OA owing to its accessibility, low cost and reproducibility. © Touch Briefings 2011.
Imaging modalities in osteoarthritis
IAGNOCCO, Annamaria;
2011-01-01
Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative and progressive joint disease that causes physical disability and impaired quality of life. It most commonly affects the elderly population. Classically, the knees, hips, lumbar-sacral spine, neck, feet and hands are involved. Imaging techniques have been demonstrated to play an important role in the diagnosis and monitoring of OA. The radiographic abnormalities of OA are joint space narrowing, osteophytes, subchondral cysts and subchondral sclerosis. X-ray examination is fast, inexpensive and readily applicable in almost all settings. Magnetic resonance imaging is a non-invasive technique that allows direct visualisation of all components of the joint. This imaging technique has the ability to image, with higher sensitivity than X-ray, morphological changes in cartilage, bone, bone marrow and surrounding soft-tissue structures (such as ligaments, synovium and menisci). Ultrasound is commonly used in daily clinical practice to evaluate and monitor patients with OA because is a non-invasive, realtime imaging tool that shows the presence of many pathological features of OA involving the articular cartilage, bony cortex and synovial tissue, and allows injection into OA joints under guidance; moreover, compared with X-ray, ultrasound enables multiplanar and dynamic joint examination. Computed tomography and scintigraphy do not play an important role in the assessment of patients with OA; indeed, only limited data are available about the relevance of these techniques for the evaluation of chronic joint diseases. In conclusion, X-ray remains the gold standard imaging technique in daily clinical practice and in clinical trials for the evaluation of patients with OA owing to its accessibility, low cost and reproducibility. © Touch Briefings 2011.
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