Imaging in Psoriatic Arthritis-Insights About Pathogenesis of the Disease

Abstract

Purpose of review: Heterogeneity is a hallmark of PsA as musculoskeletal inflammation can affect different tissues including the synovial joint, tendons, entheses, bursa, and bone.

Recent findings: Relying on clinical examination for investigating underlying mechanisms in PsA is limited by the inherent inaccuracies of examination of the joints, enthesis, and spine. In addition, unlike synovial-centered diseases, histology is hard to obtain for the entheses and spine, limiting the knowledge for different manifestations of PsA. These limitations prompted the use of imaging modalities to improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms in PsA. Imaging modalities can identify and quantify the extent of inflammation and damage in the synovial joints, entheses, and tendons which all contribute to the heterogeneity of PsA. This review summarizes the contribution of imaging to the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of different clinical manifestations of PsA.

Keywords: Enthesitis; Psoriatic arthritis; Spondyloarthritis; Ultrasound.