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Radiological and scintigraphic findings in patients with a clinical history of chronic inflammatory back pain

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Abstract

The prevalence of radiological abnormalities of the sacroiliac joints, the manubriosternal joint, and the lumbar spine were assessed, and quantitative sacroiliac scintigraphy was performed in 151 patients with a history of chronic inflammatory back pain and in 31 controls with non-inflammatory back pain. Sacroiliitis was found in 124 patients (82%), manubriosternal lesions in 84 patients (56%), and lesions of the lumbar spine in 58 patients (38%). In 19 patients (13%), manubriosternal lesions provided the sole radiological abnormality and in five patients (3%) no radiological abnormality could be demonstrated at any of these sites. Quantitative sacroiliac scintigraphy showed increased values in 69 of 137 patients examined (50%), but also in 10 out of 12 control patients with disc degeneration (83%) and is, therefore, nonspecific for inflammatory lesions. Radiological examination of the manubriosternal joint is recommended in patients with inflammatory back pain without radiographic evidence of sacroiliitis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, De Wever Ziekenhuis, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Albert J. Lemmens & Gerard Goedhard

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine, De Wever Ziekenhuis, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Henri Lokkerbol & Ali Rahmy

  3. Department of Rheumatology, University of Berne, Switzerland

    Sjef M. van der Linden

  4. Department of Rheumatology, University of Leiden, The Netherlands

    Arnold Cats

  5. Department of Rheumatology, De Wever Ziekenhuis, Postbox 4446, NL-6401 CX, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Henk Simon Goei The

Authors
  1. Henk Simon Goei The
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  2. Albert J. Lemmens
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  3. Gerard Goedhard
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  4. Henri Lokkerbol
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  6. Malcolm M. Steven
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  7. Sjef M. van der Linden
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  8. Arnold Cats
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Goei The, H.S., Lemmens, A.J., Goedhard, G. et al. Radiological and scintigraphic findings in patients with a clinical history of chronic inflammatory back pain. Skeletal Radiol 14, 243–248 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00352613

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