ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

  • Meetings
    • ACR Convergence 2024
    • ACR Convergence 2023
    • 2023 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • ACR Convergence 2022
    • ACR Convergence 2021
    • ACR Convergence 2020
    • 2020 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting
    • 2018-2009 Meetings
    • Download Abstracts
  • Keyword Index
  • Advanced Search
  • Your Favorites
    • Favorites
    • Login
    • View and print all favorites
    • Clear all your favorites
  • ACR Meetings

Abstract Number: 1619

Quantification of Bone Marrow Edema by Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Assessment of Neck Pain Only Marginally Reflects Clinical Evaluation in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis

Xenofon Baraliakos1, Frank Heldmann2, Ravi Suppiah3, Fiona M. McQueen4 and Jürgen Braun2, 1Rheumatology, Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Herne, Germany, 2Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Herne, Germany, 3Department of Rheumatology, Auckland District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand, 4Molecular Medicine and Pathology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Meeting: 2012 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Keywords: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS), Inflammation, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
Session Information

Title: Imaging of Rheumatic Diseases II: Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Session Type: Abstract Submissions (ACR)

Background/Purpose: Despite the differences in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), neck pain is a frequent clinical symptom in both diseases that was recently shown to correlate with disease activity. In this study, we evaluated the correlation between subjective reports of neck pain and objective signs of inflammation by quantification of bone marrow edema (BME) as detected by MRI in patients with RA and AS.

Methods: MR images (STIR sequence) of the cervical spine together with clinical and laboratory data of 40 patients (34 RA, 6 AS) who had participated in the recently presented CASSANDRA trial were included. MRI were assessed by two readers who were blinded for clinical data using a recently published MRI scoring system, with quantification of the extension of BME in the atlantoaxial region, corpus, facet joints and processus spinosus of all cervical vertebrae, ranging from 0-57 points. In addition, presence or absence of degenerative changes was also recorded.

Results: Baseline characteristics, neck pain and MRI scores did not differ between RA and AS patients. The mean age was 57.5±11.8 years, 33/40 patients (82.5%) were female, the mean symptom duration for neck pain was 10.6±8.8 years, cervical rotation 51.0±17.2 degrees, CRP 0.9±1.3 mg/dl, ESR 19.8±26.6 mm/1h, FFbH 58.1±26.3 and the Northwick Park score was 46.0±17.5. BME was detected in 24/40 patients (60%), 5 of which (20.8%) had atlantoaxial involvement, 18 had BME in the vertebral body (75%), 7 in the facet joints (29.2%) and 11 in the processus spinosus (45.8%). Degenerative changes were seen in 21/40 patients (52.5%). Of those 21 patients, all (100%) had also signs of BME in the corpus, while from the 19 patients without degenerative changes, only 3 patients (15.8%) had BME in the corpus. In the more detailed analysis of the total of 240 evaluated vertebral bodies, 27 (11.3%) vertebral bodies had degeneration and in parallel inflammation in the corpus, while 24 (10%) had only degeneration, 11 (4.6%) had only inflammation in the corpus, and 178 (74.2%) had neither lesion. There was no correlation between the amount or the extension of BME and clinical or laboratory parameters for neck pain or cervical spine mobility. However, a significant difference (p=0.038) was found for BME scores of patients with a pain intensity (0-10 NRS) of ≥ 5 (5.8±6.5 scoring points) vs. < 5 (1.9±25 scoring points). This was partly dependent on scores for the atlantoaxial region, although the mean number of scoring points did not differ. The correlation between readers was excellent (regression coefficient. 0.942).

Conclusion: This study shows that the majority of patients with RA and AS had objective signs of BME but also degenerative changes as assessed by MRI at different locations in the cervical spine. Assessment of the the presence of BME in the atlantoaxial region is important in clinical practice, in addition to degenerative changes, since its presence seems to influence the intensity of neck pain reported by these patients.


Disclosure:

X. Baraliakos,
None;

F. Heldmann,
None;

R. Suppiah,
None;

F. M. McQueen,
None;

J. Braun,
None.

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

« Back to 2012 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/quantification-of-bone-marrow-edema-by-using-magnetic-resonance-imaging-for-the-assessment-of-neck-pain-only-marginally-reflects-clinical-evaluation-in-patients-with-rheumatoid-arthritis-and-ankylosin/

Advanced Search

Your Favorites

You can save and print a list of your favorite abstracts during your browser session by clicking the “Favorite” button at the bottom of any abstract. View your favorites »

All abstracts accepted to ACR Convergence are under media embargo once the ACR has notified presenters of their abstract’s acceptance. They may be presented at other meetings or published as manuscripts after this time but should not be discussed in non-scholarly venues or outlets. The following embargo policies are strictly enforced by the ACR.

Accepted abstracts are made available to the public online in advance of the meeting and are published in a special online supplement of our scientific journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology. Information contained in those abstracts may not be released until the abstracts appear online. In an exception to the media embargo, academic institutions, private organizations, and companies with products whose value may be influenced by information contained in an abstract may issue a press release to coincide with the availability of an ACR abstract on the ACR website. However, the ACR continues to require that information that goes beyond that contained in the abstract (e.g., discussion of the abstract done as part of editorial news coverage) is under media embargo until 10:00 AM ET on November 14, 2024. Journalists with access to embargoed information cannot release articles or editorial news coverage before this time. Editorial news coverage is considered original articles/videos developed by employed journalists to report facts, commentary, and subject matter expert quotes in a narrative form using a variety of sources (e.g., research, announcements, press releases, events, etc.).

Violation of this policy may result in the abstract being withdrawn from the meeting and other measures deemed appropriate. Authors are responsible for notifying colleagues, institutions, communications firms, and all other stakeholders related to the development or promotion of the abstract about this policy. If you have questions about the ACR abstract embargo policy, please contact ACR abstracts staff at [email protected].

Wiley

  • Online Journal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Permissions Policies
  • Cookie Preferences

© Copyright 2025 American College of Rheumatology