Choose wisely: Imaging for diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis

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Abstract

Objective To assess the diagnostic accuracy of radiography (X-ray, XR), CT and MRI of the sacroiliac joints for diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Methods 163 patients (89 with axSpA; 74 with degenerative conditions) underwent XR, CT and MR. Three blinded experts categorised the imaging findings into axSpA, other diseases or normal in five separate reading rounds (XR, CT, MR, XR +MR, CT +MR). The clinical diagnosis served as reference standard. Sensitivity and specificity for axSpA and inter-rater reliability were compared. Results XR showed lower sensitivity (66.3%) than MR (82.0%) and CT (76.4%) and also an inferior specificity of 67.6% vs 86.5% (MR) and 97.3% (CT). XR +MR was similar to MR alone (sensitivity 77.5 %/specificity 87.8%) while CT+MR was superior (75.3 %/97.3%). CT had the best inter-rater reliability (kappa=0.875), followed by MR (0.665) and XR (0.517). XR +MR was similar (0.662) and CT+MR (0.732) superior to MR alone. Conclusions XR had inferior diagnostic accuracy and inter-rater reliability compared with cross-sectional imaging. MR alone was similar in diagnostic performance to XR+MR. CT had the best accuracy, strengthening the importance of structural lesions for the differential diagnosis in axSpA.

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APA

Diekhoff, T., Eshed, I., Radny, F., Ziegeler, K., Proft, F., Greese, J., … Poddubnyy, D. (2022). Choose wisely: Imaging for diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 81(2), 237–242. https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-220136

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