An improved method for sacro-iliac joint imaging: a study of normal subjects, patients with sacro-iliitis and patients with low back pain.
A new method is described for quantitative measurement of the uptake of 99mTc--methylene diphosphonate (MDP) by the sacro-iliac joints. The method uses 'regions of interest' providing advantages over the previously described 'slice' method; the two methods are compared in normal subjects, patients with known sacro-iliitis and patients with low back pain. Sacro-iliac activity, as calculated by the sacro-iliac index (SII) in normal patients, was shown to decrease with age in females but not in males. The SII was compared with radiographs of the sacro-iliac joints in the patients with known sacro-iliac joint disease and in those with low back pain. The method is useful for the exclusion of sacro-iliitis as a specific cause of back pain.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001168:Arthritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D001416:Back Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000150:complications; D011859:Radiography; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012446:Sacroiliac Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging