CHAPTER 13: Role of ultrasonography for the study of spondyloarthritis 2: sacroiliac joints
Abstract
Spondyloarthritis (SpA) represents a group of pathologies that share certain clinical and genetic characteristics, whose disease prototype is ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The sacroiliac (SI) joints have unique characteristics from an anatomical and functional point of view, which frequently makes it difficult to evaluate the inflammatory involvement (sacroiliitis) by clinical examination and radiographic changes are usually late, leading to delays in diagnosis. Conventional radiographs of the SI joints have traditionally been used for the diagnosis, classification and monitoring of axial SpA, with sacroiliitis being the central component of the diagnostic criteria for AS. Radiographs of the SI joints are not useful for early diagnosis, and due to high intra- and interobserver variability, they can cause false positive and negative results.References
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