ASSESSMENT OF SACROILIAC JOINT VASCULARITY: PRELIMINARY EXPERIENCE OF CONTRAST-ENHANCED US

Purpose: To assess quantitative measurement of vascularity in the sacroiliac (SI) joints of patients with active sacroiliitis and of healthy volunteers using dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (US). Methods and Materials: Twenty-two patients with active sacroiliitis (15 women, 7 men) based on the clinical criteria described by Calin et al. (JAMA 1977; 237:2613–4), and 10 healthy volunteers (7 women, 3 men) were studied. All patients and volunteers were examined with gray-scale fundamental US and gray-scale harmonic US before and after injection of intravenous US contrast agent (SonoVue, Bracco, Italy). Both SI…