title: Advanced Imaging in Osteoarthritis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Radiography is widely accepted as the gold standard for diagnosing osteoarthritis (OA), but it has limitations when assessing early stage OA and monitoring progression. While there are improvements in the treatment of OA, the challenge is early recognition.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE and PubMed as well as professional orthopaedic and imaging websites were reviewed from 2006 to 2016.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical review.
  
  
  METHODS
  Level 4.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide the most comprehensive assessment of joint injury and OA with the advantages of being noninvasive and multiplanar with excellent soft tissue contrast. However, MRI is expensive, time consuming, and not widely used for monitoring OA clinically. Computed tomography (CT) and CT arthrography (CTA) can also be used to evaluate OA, but these are also invasive and require radiation exposure. Ultrasound is particularly useful for evaluation of synovitis but not for progression of OA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MRI, CT, and CTA are available for the diagnosis and monitoring of OA. Improvement in techniques and decrease in cost can allow some of these modalities to be effective methods of detecting early OA.
authors: West China Hospital, Orthopaedic Department, Sichuan University, Sichuan Province, China.
authors: Qi
authors: Q
authors: Li
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
authors: Keiko
authors: K
authors: Amano
authors: Musculoskeletal Quantitative Imaging Research Group, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
authors: Thomas M
authors: TM
authors: Link
authors: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, California maben@ucsf.edu.
authors: C Benjamin
authors: CB
authors: Ma
mesh_terms: D001175:Arthrography; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: CT; MRI; cartilage; osteoarthritis; ultrasound