Arthritis Research & Therapy

official impact factor 4.36

Commentary

Can magnetic resonance imaging differentiate undifferentiated arthritis?

Mikkel Østergaard1,2*, Anne Duer1 and Kim Hørslev-Petersen3

Author Affiliations

1 Department of Rheumatology, Copenhagen University Hospital at Hvidovre, Denmark

2 Department of Rheumatology, Copenhagen University Hospital at Herlev, Denmark

3 King Christian X's Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases at Graasten, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

For all author emails, please log on.

Arthritis Research & Therapy 2005, 7:243-245 doi:10.1186/ar1844

Published: 13 October 2005

Abstract

A high sensitivity for the detection of inflammatory and destructive changes in inflammatory joint diseases makes magnetic resonance imaging potentially useful for assigning specific diagnoses, such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis in arthritides, that remain undifferentiated after conventional clinical, biochemical and radiographic examinations. With recent data as the starting point, the present paper describes the current knowledge on magnetic resonance imaging in the differential diagnosis of undifferentiated arthritis.