Role of MRI in Diagnosis of Sacro-iliac Joint Lesions

Background: A number of radiographic techniques have been developed to reveal different aspects of sacroiliac joint pathology. Recent studies have indicated that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be superior to conventional radiography in the detection of early erosive sacroiliitis and joint space narrowing. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the ability to display the hyaline cartilage in peripheral joints and has therefore been used in the detection of various pathologic joint conditions. MRI is also more efficient than CT and conventional radiography in discriminating between different soft tissue lesions, such as fibrotic and inflammatory tissue. The aim of our study was to evaluate MRI characteristics and the diagnostic sensitivity in patients with sacroiliac joint lesions. Methods: Our study was carried out on patients with sacroiliac joint dysfunction, in which a total of 30 patients (15 men and 15 women) were divided into 3 subgroups; acute (n=15), sub acute (n=6) and chronic (n=9) with mean age 41.03 (± 11.47 SD) years. Patient aged 25 to 65 years old in the period from October 2020 till April 2021. Results: This study showed that the mean age of cases was 2.85 (±11.16 SD) with range (25-65), 55% were male, 45% were female. This study reported that according MRI finding, Rt side 20%, Lt side 20%, 60% bilateral, 30% with Joint Space Narrowing, 50% Irregular articular surface, 70% with BM edema, 45% Subchondral sclerosis, 15% Marginal osteophytes, 20% Joint effusion. This study cleared that 40% of cases had associations. This study showed that there were 5% normal, 35% Early sacroiliitis, 20% Degenerative sacroiliitis, 10% Ankylosing spondylitis, 5% Acute brucella sacroiliitis, 5% Enteropathic arthropathy 5%Psoriatic arthropathy ,5%Septic arthritis, 5%SIJ effusion, 5% SIJ osteomyelitis. Conclusion: Our study revealed that most of cases showed early sacroilitis and associated BM edema So MRI could be as gold standard to diagnose the early stage of arthropathies rather than CT and conventional radiography.