gms | German Medical Science

46. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie (DGRh), 32. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Orthopädische Rheumatologie (DGORh), Wissenschaftliche Herbsttagung der Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendrheumatologie (GKJR)

19.09. - 22.09.2018, Mannheim

Assessment of radiographic sacroiliitis on antero-posterior lumbar radiographs as compared to conventional pelvic radiographs in patients with axial spondyloarthritis

Meeting Abstract

  • Valeria Rios Rodriguez - Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Gastroenterologie, Infektiologie, Rheumatologie, Berlin
  • Maria Llop - Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin
  • Mikhail Protopopov - Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Gastroenterologie, Infektiologie, Rheumatologie, Berlin
  • Joachim Sieper - Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Gastroenterologie, Infektiologie, Rheumatologie, Berlin
  • Hildrun Haibel - Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Gastroenterologie, Infektiologie, Rheumatologie, Berlin
  • Martin Rudwaleit - Klinikum Bielefeld Rosenhöhe, Bielefeld
  • Denis Poddubnyy - Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Gastroenterologie, Infektiologie, Rheumatologie, Berlin

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Orthopädische Rheumatologie. Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendrheumatologie. 46. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Rheumatologie (DGRh), 32. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Orthopädische Rheumatologie (DGORh), Wissenschaftliche Herbsttagung der Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendrheumatologie (GKJR). Mannheim, 19.-22.09.2018. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2019. DocSpA.33

doi: 10.3205/18dgrh170, urn:nbn:de:0183-18dgrh1701

Veröffentlicht: 5. Februar 2019

© 2019 Rios Rodriguez et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open-Access-Artikel und steht unter den Lizenzbedingungen der Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (Namensnennung). Lizenz-Angaben siehe http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Gliederung

Text

Background: The EULAR guidelines consider conventional radiography of sacroiliac joints (SIJs) as the first recommended imaging method in case of suspected axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). However, it is not clear whether sacroiliac joints can be reliably assessed on anteroposterior (AP) lumbar radiographs, which are often performed as a part of the diagnostic work-up in patients presented with back pain.

Objectives: To investigate reliability and validity of radiographic sacroiliitis assessment on AP lumbar radiographs as compared to conventional pelvic X-rays in patients with axSpA.

Methods: Patients from the GErman SPondyloarthritis Inception Cohort (GESPIC) were selected based on the availability of sets of pelvic and AP lumbar radiographs with visible SIJs at baseline and after 2 years of follow-up. Two trained readers (ML and VR) scored the images independently and in a random order according to the radiographic system of the modified New York (mNY) criteria. The sacroiliitis sum score (0-8) was calculated as a sum of the mean grades of 2 readers for the right and left SIJ. We assessed intra- and inter-reader reliability using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) of the sacroiliitis sum scores. Patients were classified as having radiographic axSpA (r-axSpA) when both readers agreed on the presence of definite radiographic sacroiliitis according to the mNY criteria.

Results: A total of 226 sets radiographs were scored from the 113 patients included in the present study. The intra-observer agreement was good to excellent for the sacroiliitis sum score of pelvic vs. AP lumbar radiographs at baseline (ICC 0.80 for ML and 0.74 for VR) and at year 2 (ICC 0.81 for ML and 0.77 for VR). The inter-observer agreement for pelvic and AP lumbar radiographs was also good to excellent: ICC at baseline: 0.81 and 0.73, respectively, at year 2: 0.76 and 0.79, respectively.

A total of 62 (54.9%) and 55 (48.7%) patients were classified as r-axSpA at baseline based on evaluation of pelvic and AP lumbar radiographs, respectively. The absolute agreement on the classification was 84.9% (figure). A total of 17 patients (12 (10.6%) with nr-axSpA and 5 (4.4%) with r-axSpA) were classified differently based on assessment of AP lumbar as compared to conventional pelvic radiographs (Figure 1 [Fig. 1]).

After 2 years of follow-up, progression from nr- to r-axSpA occurred in 7 patients (6.2%) and 8 patients (7.1%) classified as nr-axSpA at baseline based on pelvic or AP lumbar radiographs assessment, respectively. Regression from r- to nr-axSpA occurred in 4 patients (3.5%) and 3 patients (2.7%) on pelvic or AP lumbar radiographs, respectively, giving a respective net progression rates of 2.7% and 4.4%.

Conclusion: Radiographic sacroiliitis can be assessed on AP lumbar radiographs with a similar reliability as on conventional pelvic radiographs.