Kovilapu Udaybhanu1 , Narendra Kumar Jain2 , Darshan Singh Grewal3 , Uddandam Rajesh4 , Saurabh Maheshwari5 , Varun Anand6
BACKGROUND Seronegative spondyloarthritis (SpA) is a group of joint diseases having common immunopathologic mechanisms. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are essential for avoiding structural damage and functional impairment in patients having these conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the severity of spondyloarthritis using Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) Magnetic Resonance Imaging Spinal Inflammation Index. Further we correlated SPARCC MRI score with Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS). METHODS 50 diagnosed patients of spondyloarthritis were taken up for this study. The patients were initially evaluated clinically and ASADAS-CRP and ASDAS-ESR scores were calculated. Then the patients were subjected to MR Imaging and SPARCC spinal inflammation score was calculated. The findings of SPARCC spinal inflammation score and ASADAS-CRP and ASDAS-ESR scores were statistically analysed. RESULTS Our study results suggest that as the disease activity was increasing, SPARCC scores of the patients were also increasing. The correlation of SPARCC Score with ASDAS ESR was found to be statistically significant. The correlation of SPARCC Score with ASDAS CRP was also found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Early spondyloarthritis is often difficult to assess and diagnose clinically. Magnetic resonance imaging is the best imaging modality to diagnose early spondyloarthritis and it is highly sensitive for picking up inflammatory as well as structural changes of spondyloarthritis.
