| Literature DB >> 22524305 |
Abstract
Demonstration of an association between inflammation and spinal ankylosis has been challenging. Until the advent of MRI, prospective study was not possible due to inaccessibility of tissue. Recent studies using MRI have described an association between the presence of bone edema at vertebral corners on MRI and the subsequent development of syndesmophytes at the corresponding vertebral corners on radiography. Although reports have also highlighted the development of new syndesmophytes where the baseline MRI shows no inflammation, MRI has limited sensitivity for detection of spinal inflammation that is clearly evident on histopathology. There are also crucial methodological challenges because radiographic assessment is limited to the anterior corners of the cervical and lumbar spine while MRI lesions in the cervical spine are often small while spurious inflammatory signal is common in the lumbar spine. Follow-up MRI evaluation in two independent studies has also shown that inflammatory lesions that resolve after anti-TNF therapy are more prone to develop into syndesmophytes. It may be possible that very early inflammatory lesions resolve completely without sequelae if anti-TNF therapy is introduced before new bone formation becomes largely autonomous. For an individual patient the overall development of new bone during anti-TNF therapy may therefore depend on the balance between the number of early and more mature inflammatory lesions. Clinical trials of anti-TNF agents in early spondyloarthritis together with prospective MRI studies will allow more detailed testing of this hypothesis as a major priority for the research agenda in spondyloarthritis.Entities:
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Year: 2012 PMID: 22524305 PMCID: PMC3446438 DOI: 10.1186/ar3786
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Arthritis Res Ther ISSN: 1478-6354 Impact factor: 5.156
Figure 1Reference images (Canada-Denmark International MRI Group) of STIR MRI, illustrating the sagittal view of the cervico-thoracic spine. (Reference images are also available at [44].) The arrow in the left image at T5 upper shows a vertebral corner inflammatory lesion (CIL) at the threshold of detection. The bone marrow signal in the center of the vertebral body, if normal, constitutes the reference for designation of normal signal [11]. The arrow in the central image shows a CIL at the anterior corner of C4 lower. The large field of view necessary to scan the entire spine in AS impairs detailed assessment of cervical vertebrae. The right image shows increased STIR signal in a vertical pattern across the anterior portions of the lumbar vertebrae simulating inflammation but indicative of blood flowing through the great vessels (phase encoding artifact). STIR, short tau inversion recovery.
Figure 2Reference image of short tau inversion recovery MRI illustrating type A and type B corner inflammatory lesions. In the latter, the increased short tau inversion recovery MRI signal has receded from the vertebral corner.
Summary of studies assessing the relationship between inflammation on baseline STIR MRI of the spine and development of new syndesmophytes after 2 years of follow up
| Number of patients with new syndesmophytes at 2 years | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study | Yes | No | OR (95% CI) | |
| Baraliakos | ||||
| Baseline VE+ ( | 10 (6.5%) | 153 (93.5%) | 3.1 (1.4-7.1) | 0.007 |
| Baseline VE- ( | 16 (2.1%) | 769 (97.9%) | ||
| Maksymowych | ||||
| Anti-TNFα trial patients | ||||
| Baseline CIL+ ( | 6 (20%) | 24 (80%) | 4.6 (1.7-12.6) | 0.007 |
| Baseline CIL- ( | 19 (5.1%) | 351 (94.9%) | ||
| Observational cohort patients | ||||
| Baseline CIL+ ( | 6 (15.8%) | 32(84.2%) | 6.3 (2.4-16.7) | 0.001 |
| Baseline CIL- ( | 23 (2.9%) | 778 (97.1%) | ||
| Van der Heijde | ||||
| Baseline DVU+ ( | 36 (12.1%) | 261 (87.9%) | 1.9 (1.3-2.8) | 0.002 |
| Baseline DVU- ( | 115 (6.7%) | 1,592 (93.3%) | ||
CIL, vertebral corner inflammatory lesion [20]; DVU, discovertebral unit [21]; OR, odds ratio; STIR, short tau inversion recovery; VE, vertebral edge [19].
Figure 3Schematic illustrating a discovertebral unit (the space between two horizontal lines drawn through the middle of adjacent vertebrae) with areas of bone marrow edema at different locations within the unit. This unit would therefore be considered as 'positive' for MRI inflammation even though none would be associated with the development of a syndesmophyte at the location indicated in the diagram. This methodological approach leads to a decrease in the strength of association between inflammation and new bone formation.