Spondyloarthropathy encompasses a group of chronic immune-mediated rheumatic inflammatory diseases characterized by axial joint inflammation, peripheral arthritis, enthesitis, dactylitis and extra-articular features. Axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) has significant social and psychiatric impacts \[2, 3\] and affects quality-of-life (4-5).Early disease diagnosis is becoming more important as it will facilitate early therapeutic interventions (6). There's no "gold standard" feature for diagnosing axSpA. It's diagnosed through a combination of patient history, clinical examination, laboratory findings a and imaging tests, such as X-ray and MRI. Sacroiliitis is commonly the first manifestation and an important indicator of the diagnosis and classification of the the disease. (7) Radiographic sacroiliitis is a key criterion. However, sole reliance on radiographs is associated with significant diagnostic delay \[8\]. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can detect axial inflammation before radiographic changes. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) offers a new approach to assess inflammation. Recently several studies have shown that DWI is an effective tool in early diagnosis of axSpA (14-16). Furthermore, the ADC value may serve as a quantitative biomarker of disease activity, allowing monitoring and guiding treatment. (17-18)
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value of diffusion weighted MRI in evaluation of sacroiliitis in newly diagnosed patients of spondyloarthropathy.
Timeframe: one year