Diagnostic Advances
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Sep 18, 2017; 8(9): 660-673
Published online Sep 18, 2017. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v8.i9.660
Clinical applications of advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques for arthritis evaluation
Teodoro Martín Noguerol, Antonio Luna, Marta Gómez Cabrera, Alexie D Riofrio
Teodoro Martín Noguerol, Antonio Luna, MRI Unit, Clínica Las Nieves, SERCOSA, Health Time, 23007 Jaén, Spain
Antonio Luna, Department of Radiology, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, United States
Marta Gómez Cabrera, MRI Unit, DADISA, Health Time, 11011 Cádiz, Spain
Alexie D Riofrio, Department of Radiology, Duke Regional Hospital, Durham, NC 27710, United States
Author contributions: Martín Noguerol T and Luna A designed this work; Martín Noguerol T and Gómez Cabrera M performed the cases research, Martín Noguerol T, Luna A and Riofrio AD wrote and edited the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Antonio Luna, Chairman, MRI Unit, Clínica Las Nieves, SERCOSA, Health Time, Jaén, Calle Carmelo Torres 2, 23007 Jaén, Spain. aluna70@htime.org
Telephone: +34-953-275601 Fax: +34-953-275609
Received: February 11, 2017
Peer-review started: February 15, 2017
First decision: March 27, 2017
Revised: April 26, 2017
Accepted: May 3, 2017
Article in press: May 5, 2017
Published online: September 18, 2017
Processing time: 213 Days and 23 Hours
Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has allowed a comprehensive evaluation of articular disease, increasing the detection of early cartilage involvement, bone erosions, and edema in soft tissue and bone marrow compared to other imaging techniques. In the era of functional imaging, new advanced MRI sequences are being successfully applied for articular evaluation in cases of inflammatory, infectious, and degenerative arthropathies. Diffusion weighted imaging, new fat suppression techniques such as DIXON, dynamic contrast enhanced-MRI, and specific T2 mapping cartilage sequences allow a better understanding of the physiopathological processes that underlie these different arthropathies. They provide valuable quantitative information that aids in their differentiation and can be used as potential biomarkers of articular disease course and treatment response.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging; Joint; Diffusion weighted imaging; Dynamic contrast enhanced; Musculoskeletal system; Cartilage; DIXON; Arthritis

Core tip: New magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, successfully applied in other anatomical areas, can help to improve the diagnostic accuracy for arthritis evaluation. Advanced fat suppression techniques like DIXON or functional sequences such as cartilage imaging, diffusion weighted imaging or dynamic contrast enhanced-MRI are showing promising results for arthritis assessment. These techniques provide both morphological and functional information in several clinical scenarios including infection, degenerative or inflammatory arthritis.