Magnetic resonance imaging changes of sacroiliac joints in patients with recent-onset inflammatory back pain: inter-reader reliability and prevalence of abnormalities

To study the inter-reader reliability of detecting abnormalities of sacroiliac (SI) joints in patients with recent-onset inflammatory back pain by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to study the prevalence of inflammation and structural changes at various sites of the SI joints. Sixty-eight patients with inflammatory back pain (at least four of the five following criteria: symptom onset before age 40, insidious onset, morning stiffness, duration >3 months, improvement with exercise--or three out of five of these plus night pain) were included (38% male; mean age, 34.9 years [standard deviation 10.3]; 46% HLA-B27-positive; mean symptom duration, 18 months), with symptom duration <2 years. A MRI scan of the SI joints was made in the coronal plane with the following sequences: T1-weighted spin echo, short-tau inversion recovery, T2-weighted fast-spin echo with fat saturation, and T1-spin echo with fat saturation after the administration of gadolinium. Both SI joints were scored for inflammation (separately for subchondral bone and bone marrow, joint space, joint capsule, ligaments) as well as for structural changes (erosions, sclerosis, ankylosis), by two observers independently. Agreement between the two readers was analysed by concordance and discordance rates and by kappa statistics. Inflammation was present in 32 SI joints of 22 patients, most frequently located in bone marrow and/or subchondral bone (29 joints in 21 patients). Readers agreed on the presence of inflammation in 85% of the cases in the right SI joint and in 78% of the cases in the left SI joint. Structural changes on MRI were present in 11 patients. Ten of these 11 patients also showed signs of inflammation. Agreement on the presence or absence of inflammation and structural changes of SI joints by MRI was acceptable, and was sufficiently high to be useful in ascertaining inflammatory and structural changes due to sacroiliitis. About one-third of patients with recent-onset inflammatory back pain show inflammation, and about one-sixth show structural changes in at least one SI joint.     

Psoriatic arthritis and sacroiliitis are associated with increased vascular inflammation by 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography computed tomography: baseline report from the Psoriasis Atherosclerosis and Cardiometabolic Disease Initiative

Introduction

Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, but surrogate markers for CVD in these disorders are inadequate. Because the presence of sacroiliitis may portend more severe PsA, we hypothesized that sacroiliitis defined by computed tomography (CT) would be associated with increased vascular inflammation defined by 18-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT), which is an established measure of CVD.

Methods

Participants (n = 65) underwent whole-body FDG-PET/CT. Metabolic activity of the aorta was measured using the maximal standardized uptake value (SUV_max), a measure of atherosclerotic plaque activity. The primary outcome was aortic vascular inflammation. Linear regression (with β-coefficients (β) and P-values reported for PsA and sacroiliitis) was used to adjust for CVD risk factors to determine associations of PsA or sacroiliitis with vascular inflammation. Likelihood ratio testing was performed to evaluate the contribution of sacroiliitis to vascular disease estimation compared to the effects of PsA and traditional CVD risk factors.

Results

Vascular inflammation (measured as SUV_max) was greater (P < 0.001) in patients with sacroiliitis (mean ± SD = 7.33 ± 2.09) defined by CT compared to those without sacroiliitis (6.39 ± 1.49, P = 0.038). There were associations between PsA and aortic inflammation (β = 0.124, P < 0.001) and between sacroiliitis and aortic inflammation (β = 0.270, P < 0.001) after adjusting for CVD risk factors. Sacroiliitis predicted vascular inflammation beyond PsA and CVD risk factors (χ² = 124.6, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Sacroiliitis is associated with increased vascular inflammation detected by FDG-PET/CT, suggesting that sacroiliac joint disease may identify patients at greater risk for CVD. Large, ongoing prospective studies are required to confirm these findings.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/ar4676) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

多层CT 诊断强直性脊柱炎骶髂关节病变的价值

目的:评价多层CT诊断强直性脊柱炎骶髂关节病变的价值。方法:对32例患者行骶髂关节16层螺旋CT扫描,患者取仰卧位,采用各向同性的扫描,原始采集层厚0.75mm,矩阵512×512,层厚3mm,在工作站进行三维骨成像处理,包括多平面重建、最大强度投影和容积再现。结果:23例表现为不同程度关节面模糊、破坏,表现为软骨下骨质虫蚀状改变,11例发现皮质下小囊状透亮区。按CT表现分级,11例属于I级,8例属于Ⅱ级,8例属于Ⅲ级,5例属于IV级。结论:多层CT在强直性脊柱炎骶髂关节病变的鉴别诊断与分级中有较大价值,应作为临床可疑患者的优选检查。     

强直性脊柱炎新骨形成机制研究进展

强直性脊柱炎（Ankylosing spondylitis, AS）是以骶髂关节和脊柱病变为主的炎性疾病。其特征性病理表现为炎症和新骨形 成。近年来使用肿瘤坏死因子（Tumor necrosis factor,TNF）抑制剂控制AS 炎症已卓有成效,却无法阻止影像学进程,其病理性新 骨形成可致残,严重影响患者健康生活,但其机制尚不完全清楚。目前研究认为复杂的新骨形成机制与Wnt/beta-catenin信号通路及 其调控因子、炎症介质密切相关。本文结合当前国内外的研究就AS 新骨形成机制进展展开综述,为深入研究新骨形成机制提供 新思想。     

髋骨术后仿真生物力学分析与临床研究

目的:探讨坐耻骨肿瘤切除术后髋骨生物力学变化及其与恢复期并发症产生的关系,指导术后骨盆重建.方法:构建单侧完整髋骨及坐耻骨肿瘤切除术后髋骨有限元模型,在相同约束和负载条件下,计算髋骨相同部位位移、应力及应变值,比较与分析模拟手术前后力学变化,结合临床评价意义.结果:手术前后髋骨节点位移、应力及应变分布区域相似,手术前后骶髂关节节点位移及应变、髋臼顶节点应力及应变有显著性差异;手术前后骶髂关节节点应力、坐骨大切迹应力及应变无显著性差异.结论:坐耻骨肿瘤切除术后主要影响同侧骶髂关节、髋臼顶的生物力学状态,恢复期并发症发生的原因由骶髂关节、髋臼顶生物力学改变及耻骨联合与耻骨上支连接与稳定作用的消失所致,三者相互作用,相互影响.     

An epidemiologic study of sacroiliac fusion in some human skeletal remains

A case-control study was undertaken to generate some hypotheses concerning the etiology of sacroiliac fusion in a group of skeletons dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. Forty-one skeletons with fusion of the sacroiliac joint were compared with eighty-two adult skeletons without the condition. The sacroiliac joints were most frequently fused with bridging osteophytes and no preference for site or side of fusion could be detected. Except where there were other features in the skeleton suggestive of a sero-negative arthropathy, radiography demonstrated that there was no intra-articular ankylosis. We were able to confirm earlier observations that the condition is more prevalent in males and in older age-groups. The study also showed a significant association between sacroiliac fusion and the presence of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) and osteoarthritis of the spine but not for osteoarthritis at any other site. There was a highly significant association between sacroiliac fusion and the phenomenon that we refer to as "bone forming." We devised a series of bone-former scores and were able to show a significant excess of cases with high scores compared with the controls. This association persisted when allowance had been made for potential confounding factors such as DISH, osteoarthritis of the spine, and age.     

LncRNA MEG3 inhibits the inflammatory response of ankylosing spondylitis by targeting miR-146a

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a progressive systemic disease characterized by chronic inflammation response of the sacroiliac joint and spine. Long non-coding...     

Arthritis of the spondyloarthropathy variety in Callithrix jacchus

Sixty skeletons of Callithrix jacchus were examined to identify spondyloarthropathy. Erosive disease in Callithrix was confirmed as spondyloarthropathy on the basis of diagnostic sacroiliac erosions, syndesmophyte formation, and the nature and distribution of the peripheral joint erosions.     

Technical note: Shape variability induced by reassembly of human pelvic bones

In traditional as well as in geometric morphometric studies, the shape of the pelvis is often quantified after the reassembly of the two hip bones and the sacrum. However, on dry bones, the morphology of the cartilaginous tissues that form the two sacroiliac joints and the pubic symphysis before death remains unknown, leading to potential inaccuracies and errors during the reassembly process. A protocol was established to investigate the effects of reassembly on the quantification of pelvis shape. The shape of fresh pelves obtained after dissection, in which the three bones are in an anatomically relevant position, was compared with the shape of different reassemblies based on the individual dry bones of the same individuals. Our results demonstrated a significant effect of the reassembly. Variation in the reassembly process is likely related, first, to the complete absence of cartilaginous tissues on dry bones and, second, to the morphology of the sacroiliac joint which, in vivo, allows physiological movements, resulting in different potential positions of the two sacroiliac surfaces relative to one another. However, the artificial variation introduced by the reassembly process appears small compared with the biological variation between the different individuals.     

Profiling Eph receptor expression in cells and tissues

Addendum to: Diarra D, Stolina M, Polzer K, Zwerina J, Ominsky MS, Dwyer D, Korb A, Smolen J, Hoffmann M, Scheinecker C, van der Heijde D, Landewe R, Lacey D, Richards WG and Schett G. Dickkopf-1 Is a Master Regulator of Joint Remodeling. Nat Med. 2007; 13:156-63. Remodeling of joints is a key feature of inflammatory and degenerative joint disease. Bone erosion, cartilage degeneration and growth of bony spurs termed osteophytes are key features of structural joint pathology in the course of arthritis, which lead to impairment of joint function. Understanding their molecular mechanisms is essential to tailor targeted therapeutic approaches to protect joint architecture from inflammatory and mechanical stress. This addendum summarizes the new insights in the molecular regulation of bone formation in the joint and its relation to bone resorption. It describes how inflammatory cytokines impair bone formation and block the repair response of joints towards inflammatory stimuli. It particularly points out the key role of Dickkopf-1 protein, a regulator of the Wingless signaling and inhibitor of bone formation. This new link between inflammation and bone formation is also crucial for explaining the generation of osteophytes, bony spurs along joints, which are characterized by new bone and cartilage formation. This mechanism is largely dependent on an activation of wingless protein signaling and can lead to complete joint fusion. This addendum summarized the current concepts of joint remodeling in the limelight of these new findings.     

Rheumatoid (Marie-Strumpell) spondylitis; technique of examination and importance of the costal joints

Rheumatoid spondylitis in the early prodromal stage may present a complex and obscure clinical picture making diagnosis difficult. It is in this early stage that roentgen examination of the small joints of the spine will often aid in or lead to the correct diagnosis of the disease in which the classical clinical symptoms and roentenographic findings in the sacroiliac fissure have not appeared and may never appear. The changes in these small joints, particularly in the costovertebral and costotransverse joints, are less obvious and require experienced and careful interpretation, but it is to these that the roentgenologist must direct his attention if he is to be of assistance in early diagnosis. A technical procedure for this examination is presented, along with a discussion of the clinical importance of changes at this site. Demonstration of involvement of the sacroiliac joints is of diagnostic importance, but this finding is no more necessary to the diagnosis of rheumatoid spondylitis than is involvement of any other single joint of the spine. Insistence on sacroiliac involvement will often result in missed diagnosis, and has led in part to erroneous conclusions as to sex incidence of the disease.     

Pathological traits observed in a historic Great Basin Native American Indian Skeleton

During the excavation of an irrigation ditch in Churchill County, Nevada, a burial was encountered, with associated artifacts indicative of historical provenience. The pattern of occlusal attrition, the lack of dental work, and the skeletal morphology indicate the individual was a Great Basin Native American Indian. Sex determination was female and age at death estimated as 40±. The skeleton is nearly complete and several of the long bones, as well as the vertebrae, scapulae, sternum and xiphoid process have minor pathologies, either osteophytic growths or areas of porosities and pitted appearances. The left sacroiliac joint is extensively affected by an unusual pathology, with the auricular surfaces of both the sacrum and ilium having a scooped out or hollowed appearance. Although the other pathologies are interpreted as being related to both age and possibly the lifestyle of a female Great Basin Indian during historic times, the sacroiliac pathological condition is construed as a manifestation of a more severe affliction.     

Magnetic resonance imaging changes of sacroiliac joints in patients with recent-onset inflammatory back pain: inter-reader reliability and prevalence of abnormalities

To study the inter-reader reliability of detecting abnormalities of sacroiliac (SI) joints in patients with recent-onset inflammatory back pain by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to study the prevalence of inflammation and structural changes at various sites of the SI joints.     

Clinical characteristics of patients with spondyloarthritides and HLA-B27 positive antigen

The aim of this study was to present our experiences in diagnosing spondyloarthritides (SpA), and to list the most common clinical features of HLA-B27 positive patients. The study included 65 HLA-B27 positive patients with confirmed diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who were analyzed between 2009 and 2010 in Clinic of Internal Medicine in Osijek. The diagnosis of seronegative spondyloarthritides was based on the ASAS (Assessment in AS Working Group) classification criteria for axial and then supplemented with ASAS criteria for peripheral SpA and was confirmed by radiological techniques. For diagnosing the ankylosing spondylitis (AS), there have been applied the modified New York criteria. Radiological criteria for definite sacroiliitis according to the modified New York criteria is bilateral sacroiliitis, grade 2-4 (> or = 2) or unilateral sacroiliitis, grade 3-4. For diagnosing the psoriatic arthritis (PsA), there were used CASPAR diagnostic criteria. Other features of SpA are defined within the existing classification criteria. HLA-B27 antigen was determined by direct immune-fluorescence technique using flow cytometer. The average age of patients was 50.34 years, of whom 27 female (41.53%), 38 male (58.46%). Duration of illness was 15.79 years on average. With 75.38% of patients, there had been determined the diagnosis of AS; 24.62% of patients had the diagnosis of PsA. The most common clinical characteristics that patients had were: inflammatory back pain (pain Inflammation along the lumbosacral spine), peripheral arthritis, intermittent pain in the gluteus, sacroiliitis, enthesitis, uveitis, dactilitis.     

RHEUMATOID (MARIE-STRUMPELL) SPONDYLITIS,Technique of Examination and Importance of the Costal Joints

Rheumatoid spondylitis in the early prodromal stage may present a complex and obscure clinical picture making diagnosis difficult. It is in this early stage that roentgen examination of the small joints of the spine will often aid in or lead to the correct diagnosis of the disease in which the classical clinical symptoms and roentenographic findings in the sacroiliac fissure have not appeared and may never appear. The changes in these small joints, particularly in the costovertebral and costotransverse joints, are less obvious and require experienced and careful interpretation, but it is to these that the roentgenologist must direct his attention if he is to be of assistance in early diagnosis. A technical procedure for this examination is presented, along with a discussion of the clinical importance of changes at this site.Demonstration of involvement of the sacroiliac joints is of diagnostic importance, but this finding is no more necessary to the diagnosis of rheumatoid spondylitis than is involvement of any other single joint of the spine. Insistence on sacroiliac involvement will often result in missed diagnosis, and has led in part to erroneous conclusions as to sex incidence of the disease.     

Yersinia enterocolitica arthritis in southern Sweden: a four-year follow-up study.

Thirty-eight cases of suspected yersinia arthritis occurring in southern Sweden in 1975-6 were reviewed four to five years later. In 31 cases the diagnosis was confirmed. At follow-up three of the patients had definite ankylosing spondylitis, three radiologically confirmed sacroiliitis, three extensor tenosynovitis, five isolated articular joint disease, and 10 localised arthralgias; one patient had developed seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. Only six of the 31 patients were free of joint symptoms. These results suggest that although the acute symptoms of yersinia arthritis disappear within 12 months, the long-term prognosis may be less favourable than previously thought.     

The effect of boundary condition on the biomechanics of a human pelvic joint under an axial compressive load: a three-dimensional finite element model

The finite element (FE) model of the pelvic joint is helpful for clinical diagnosis and treatment of pelvic injuries. However, the effect of an FE model boundary condition on the biomechanical behavior of a pelvic joint has not been well studied. The objective of this study was to study the effect of boundary condition on the pelvic biomechanics predictions. A 3D FE model of a pelvis using subject-specific estimates of intact bone structures, main ligaments and bone material anisotropy by computed tomography (CT) gray value was developed and validated by bone surface strains obtained from rosette strain gauges in an in vitro pelvic experiment. Then three FE pelvic models were constructed to analyze the effect of boundary condition, corresponding to an intact pelvic joint, a pelvic joint without sacroiliac ligaments and a pelvic joint without proximal femurs, respectively. Vertical load was applied to the same pelvis with a fixed prosthetic femoral stem and the same load was simulated in the FE model. A strong correlation coefficient (R(2)=0.9657) was calculated, which indicated a strong correlation between the FE analysis and experimental results. The effect of boundary condition changes on the biomechanical response depended on the anatomical location and structure of the pelvic joint. It was found that acetabulum fixed in all directions with the femur removed can increase the stress distribution on the acetabular inner plate (approximately double the original values) and decrease that on the superior of pubis (from 7 MPa to 0.6 MPa). Taking sacrum and ilium as a whole, instead of sacroiliac and iliolumber ligaments, can influence the stress distribution on ilium and pubis bone vastly. These findings suggest pelvic biomechanics is very dependent on the boundary condition in the FE model.     

猪后肢力学结构与产肉量的关系——民猪与哈白猪对比

本文运用生物力学的观点,阐述了民猪和哈白猪荐髂关节和髋关节周围结构的差异,以及这些差异与后肢产肉量的密切关系.为民猪生产性能的改良提高提供一些科学依据