Utility in Clinical Trials of Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Psoriatic Arthritis: A Report from the GRAPPA 2014 Annual Meeting

Abstract

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a heterogeneous disease that involves both peripheral and axial joints and entheses. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows visualization of the inflammatory components (synovitis, tenosynovitis, enthesitis, periarticular inflammation, and bone marrow edema) as well as structural damage (bone erosion, bone proliferation) in PsA. However, MRI has not been validated as an outcome measure in PsA clinical trials to the same extent as in rheumatoid arthritis. Recently, further validation of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) PsA MRI score (PsAMRIS) was presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA). In this review, we present the current knowledge within MRI assessment of PsA, particularly peripheral manifestations, as well as different imaging methods and scoring systems, and we discuss future research perspectives.