Research Into The Clinical Application Of MRI In The Evaluation Of Sacroiliac Joint Accompanying Ankylosing Spondylitis

Objective To study the MRI findings of sacroiliac joint accompanying ankylosing spondylitis(AS)and to evaluate their clinic usefulness.Methods Forty-three patients(32 men and 11 women)with AS which was coincident with 1984 modified New York criteria underwent MR seans without and with contrast enhancement of bilateral sacroiliac joint.All MR imaging was performed by using spin echo(SE)and short time inversion recovery(STIR)sequences.Simultaneously,the clinical data which comprised clinicalsymptoms,signs and laboratory tests such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR),platelet count(PLTC),bath ankylosing spondylitis activity index(BASDAI)and patients global assessment(PGA)were collected for each case and comparalively analyzed with their MRI findings.Results On MR images of 43 cases,bone marrow edema was found in 21,bone erosion in 29,and fatty sedimentation in 36.All patients could be divided into two groups according to presence and absence of bone marrow edema and fatty sedimentation.ESR,PTLC,BASAI and PGA between above two groups were significant differences(P＜0.05).Conclusion MRI can reveal the early lesions of as,thus it is helpful to identify the prognosis.