This study was undertaken to examine the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the management of patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA).
A Medline search was performed to identify all publications pertaining to MRI in JRA. Further searches and identification of articles from bibliographies identified articles pertaining to plain radiograph imaging in JRA and MRI in adult rheumatoid arthritis.
Studies in both children and adults have shown superiority of MRI to plain radiography in detecting synovial hypertrophy and articular cartilage abnormalities. Several studies in adults have shown a good correlation of MR images with gross anatomic as well as histological findings at arthroscopy. Biochemical changes that occur before structural changes within the joint may even be detectable with magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
MRI holds promise for the assessment of disease progression in JRA and may be useful in serial evaluation, as in clinical trials.