s35_ab3

New approaches to imaging early inflammatory arthritis

A.K. Brown¹, R.J. Wakefield¹, P.G. Conaghan¹, Z. Karim¹, P.J. O'Connor², P. Emery¹

¹Academic Unit of Musculoskeletal Disease, Department of Rheumatology, University of Leeds, Leeds General Infirmary, and ²Department of Radiology, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, UK.

ABSTRACT
Imaging techniques such as musculoskeletal ultrasonography (MUS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are playing an increasingly important role in the assessment of patients with inflammatory arthritis. Such modalities are now used routinely in the evaluation of joint, tendon and soft tissue inflammation and bone damage in many early arthritis clinics. They have the ability to directly visualise, characterise and quantify the earliest inflammatory changes and have proved not only to be useful additional complimentary clinical tools to improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis, direct appropriate treatment, monitor response to therapy, measure disease progression and outcome but also continue to contribute to our understanding of disease pathogenesis. These imaging methods may therefore offer a significant advantage as they endorse the principles of early diagnosis and optimal targeted therapy essential to providing the most favourable long term outcome for patients with inflammatory arthritis (1).
This article reviews the current evidence supporting the role of MUS and MRI in the assessment of patients with inflammatory arthritis.

Key words
Musculoskeletal ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging, early inflammatory arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, synovitis, erosions.

Dr Andrew K. Brown is in receipt of an Educational Research Fellowship awarded by the Arthritis Research Campaign.
Please address correspondence to: Professor Paul Emery, MA, MD, FRCP, arc Professor of Rheumatology, Academic Unit of Musculoskeletal Disease, Department of Rheumatology, University of Leeds, Leeds General Infirmary, Great George Street, Leeds, LS1 3EX, UK.
E-mail: p.emery@leeds.ac.uk