Spondyloarthritis & psoriatic arthritis
Spine structural lesions in ankylosing spondylitis: comparison between radiographic and opportunistic thoraco-abdomino-pelvic computed tomography assessment
Authors' conclusion
Opportunistic TAP CT is a reliable, reproducible, and complementary imaging tool to radiography for evaluating anterior and posterior spinal structural damage in AS.
Study context
- Population
- Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients meeting the modified New York criteria for radiographic sacroiliitis with both spine radiographs and TAP CT within 12 months
- Participants
- 142 patients
- Exposure
- Spine radiographs vs opportunistic thoraco-abdomino-pelvic CT
- Outcome
- Prevalence and severity of spinal structural lesions on radiographs vs opportunistic TAP CT
Methodological detailsmonocentric, pilot study
- Monocentric
- Pilot study
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Structural spinal damage identified
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Mean
| Outcome | RASSS | TAP CT |
|---|---|---|
| Severity: mean RASSS and total CT-score | 13.1 (SD 20.0) | 37.2 (SD 47.2) |
Lesion types on CT
- Anterior vertebral lesions (patients)
- 94
- Posterior facet joint ankylosis (patients)
- 68
Factors associated with total CT-score
- Correlated with age, disease duration, male sex, HLA-B27 positivity, inflammatory bowel disease, and CRP >5 mg/L
- P < 0.05
- Multivariate analysis confirmed associations with age, disease duration, male sex, and CRP
Intra-reader reliability
- Excellent for both modalities (ICC)
- >0.90
Original publication
Spine structural lesions in ankylosing spondylitis: comparison between radiographic and opportunistic thoraco-abdomino-pelvic computed tomography assessment. Clin Exp Rheumatol. Published 9 December 2025. doi:10.
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