MRI characteristics of enthesitis in peripheral ankylosing spondylitis / 实用医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the MRI findings of enthesitis in peripheral ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods We retrospectively reviewed the MRI obtained from 13 patients with clinically-diagnosed peripheral AS. MRI finding attributable to enthesitis could be visualized as tendon or ligament enthesitis, bone marrow edema (BME), synovitis, bursitis, tenosynovitis. Results MRI findings of knee showed enthesitis in 8 knees, mainly involved in the insertions of the quadriceps tendon at the upper patellar pole , the patellar ligament at the lower patellar pole and the tibial tubercle, BME in 8 knees, synovitis in 5 knees, bursitis in 3 knees, and tenosynovitis in 4 knees. MRI findings of ankle showed enthesitis in 3 ankles, involved in plantar insertion into calcaneus and Achilles tendon insertion into the calcaneus, BME in 1 ankle, and tenosynovitis in 3 ankles. Conclusion The lower extremities are more often involved in peripheral AS than the upper extremities. MRI characteristic of enthesitis may contribute to the diagnosis of peripheral AS early combined with HLA-B27.