Selected issues in diagnostic imaging of spondyloarthritides: psoriatic arthritis and juvenile spondyloarthritis

Spondyloarthritides (also known as spondyloarthropathies) are a group of rheumatic diseases that consists of diversified entities, i.e. ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, arthritis in the course of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and juvenile spondyloarthropathies. In the diagnostics of spondyloarthritides, plain radiography has played a crucial role for years due to its undisputed ability to show distinctive bony changes. Yet as those diseases often manifest themselves by soft tissue pathology and bone marrow inflammation, ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging are currently a subject of numerous studies in the quest for setting up diagnostic criteria, especially at early stages of inflammatory processes. In our review, we present an up-to-date insight into classifications, etiopathogenesis and imaging of psoriatic arthritis and juvenile spondyloarthritis.