Recent Advances in Imaging for Diagnosis, Monitoring, and Prognosis of Psoriatic Arthritis

Abstract

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory condition characterized by a strong heterogeneity and multifaceted behavior. PsA manifests in two types-axial and peripheral-which may be present at the same time. Peripheral manifestations can be further divided into the articular (arthritis) and extra-articular (i.e., enthesitis and dactylitis) subgroups. In such a complex disease, imaging is often required to characterize the type of involvement and to evaluate the radiological damage and progression of PsA. In addition, imaging plays a pivotal role in clinical practice; that is, for axial involvement. Conventional radiology has been the main standard of reference for many years. However, in recent years, there has been growing interest in different imaging modalities, such as ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). All these techniques play a role in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with PsA and cover all the types of the disease. US and MRI have good sensitivities and specificities for detecting synovitis, and this may be helpful for differential diagnosis with other musculoskeletal diseases and useful in the early or preclinical phases of the disease. However, US is not useful in the diagnosis of axial PsA. In addition, other modalities have been investigated in the field of PsA imaging. Computed tomography (CT), in particular, dual energy-CT and high-resolution peripheral CT (HRpQ-CT) might play an important role in the assessment of bone damage, erosions, and new bone formation. Regarding advanced functional imaging, FDG PET/CT is another interesting technique for exploring disease activity.

Keywords: biologics; magnetic resonace imaging (MRI); psoriasis; psoriatic arthritis; ultrasonography.