Quite a bit of work has been done over the past couple of years to validate methods using MRI to diagnosed ankylosing spondylitis. The hope being that MRI can detect the disease earlier than conventional x-ray.

Two studies have been released over the last month looking at MRI and spondyloarthritis.

Both studies agreed that "inflammatory lesions" caused by spondylitis can be readily seen on MRI and can help in the diagnosis.

The first study, "Defining active sacroiliitis on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for classification of axial spondyloarthritis - a consensual approach by the ASAS/ OMERACT MRI Group" concludes that "For the first time, MRI findings relevant for sacroiliitis have been defined by consensus by a group of rheumatologists and radiologists."

You can read the abstract by clicking here.

The second, "Assessment of active spinal inflammatory changes in patients with axial spondyloarthritis: Validation of whole body MRI against conventional MRI" concludes, that MRI, "showed a high correlation and comparable high reli-ability for the detection of active inflammatory lesions in the spine of patients with clinically active SpA."

The abstract for this study can be found by clicking here.

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