David A. King1, Edward M. Vital1,
Jane E. Freeston1, Philip O'Connor2, Robert Evans,
2,3, Peter Wright, 2,3, Paul Emery1, Richard
Hodgson, 1,3
1University of Leeds, Leeds, Yorkshire,
United Kingdom; 2Chapel Allerton Hospital, Leeds, United Kingdom; 3Leeds
Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit, Leeds, United Kingdom
This
study uses dynamic contrast enhanced MRI to study the response of bone marrow
to therapy. 30 patients with long-standing, active rheumatoid arthritis were
imaged before and at 12 and 24 weeks after starting biologic treatment. 3D
SPGR images of the wrist were acquired every 19 seconds and the relative
early enhancement rate of bone marrow calculated from a carpal bone. There
was a statistically significant decrease in the RER at both 12 and 24 weeks
after starting treatment. This suggests DCE-MRI of bone marrow may be useful
for assessing the response to treatment in rheumatoid arthritis.
Keywords