Active Inflammatory and Chronic Structural Damages of Sacroiliac Joint in Patients With Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis and Non-Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the MRI evidence of active inflammatory and chronic structural damages in radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (r-axSpA) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA). METHODS: A retrospective review of 253 patients who underwent sacroiliac joint (SIJ) MRI between June 2014 and December 2019 was performed. MRI images including short tau inversion recovery scan and T1-weighted spin echo scans were assessed using the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) score and SPARCC MRI SIJ structural score by two independent readers. RESULTS: Higher mean score of inflammatory (SPARCC) was seen in r-axSpA patients when compared with nr-axSpA patients (8.08 vs 4.37, P<0.05). Frequencies of MRI structural lesions in r-axSpA patients and nr-axSpA patients were as follows: erosion (65.84 vs 88.23%, P=0.002), backfill (33.17 vs 13.73%, P<0.001), fat metaplasia (79.21 vs 60.78%, P=0.01), and ankylosis (37.13 vs 1.96%, P<0.001). Patients with r-axSpA had a higher mean score for fat metaplasia (8.93 vs 4.06, P=0.0003) and ankylosis (4.49 vs 0.04, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: More active inflammatory and chronic structural damages except for erosion were seen in r-axSpA patients than nr-axSpA patients, while higher percentage of nr-axSpA patients presented with erosion in MRI.