Arthritis Flashcards
Soft tissue
Increased volume/density
Joint effusion
Mass
Calcification
Soft Tissue Masses
Tophi, gout
Rheumatoid nodules
Pigmented villonodular synovitis (usually mono-articular)
Joint Space
Narrowing
even vs. uneven
Widening
Subluxation or dislocation
Pre-erosion:
Early stages)
Dot dash
Bone Production
Periostitis
Subchondral sclerosis (AKA eburnation)
Whiskering: ivory phalanx
hallux distal phalanx
martels sign with overhanging margin
Bone Loss
Subchondral “cyst”-
Geographic lytic lesion with
charactistically thin, scerotic
margins
Osteophyte
Spur at joint margin
Descriptive terms:
“flagging”
“lipping”
“beaking”
Enthesopathy
Alteration at any ligamentous
or tendon attachment to bone
What is this
Detritus
Loose body
“joint mouse”
Dx
Osteoarthritis
Common site: 1st MPJ
Spur formation and joint space
narrowing at the PIPJ & DIPJ
termed Bouchard’s and
Heberden’s nodes.
Joint space narrowing –
uneven
3. Subchondral sclerosis
(eburnation)
4. Subchondral cysts
5. Detritus (loose body, “joint
mouse”)
What is this called
Osteophytosis
2. Joint space narrowing –uneven
3. Subchondral sclerosis (eburnation)
4. Subchondral cysts
5. Detritus (loose body, “joint mouse”)
Subchondral sclerosis(eburnation)
EROSION of the articular cartilage, often central and in weight-
bearing areas
FIBRILLATION causing softening, splitting and fragmentation of
the cartilage
Erosion down to subchondral bone
Exposed surfaces of bone are worn down to form a hard and
polished surface (EBURNATION)
Subchondral sclerosis (
Dx
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Digital Contractures of the
hands are termed:
Swan-neck and Boutonnière
deformities
Nodules are common
F>M
toes deviated, joint space narrowing, erosion on medial side of joints
symmetrical and bilateral
Dx
Rheumatoid Arthritis (C-spine)
The anterior edge of the odontoid process (O) is abnormally separated from the posterior margin of the arch of the atlas (A) in this lateral roentgenogram of the cervical spine of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis.
Dx
Gout
Joint space sparing (normal)
Peri-articular erosions C shaped or “rat bite”
Martel’s sign- an over-hanging margin of new bone growth
Dx
CPPD (Pseudo-gout)
calcium
pyrophosphate crystals forming
in joints.
The knee joint is most
commonly affected.
Chondro-calcinosis is the
primary radiographic finding
Dx
Psoriasis
Whiskering or “Ivory Phalanx”
due to the increased
periosteal reaction hallux
distal phalanx
Pencil-in-cup deformity can
been in chronic cases
Dx
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Erosion
Medial and/or lateral sides of
affected joints
Even joint space narrowing
Periostitis adjacent to affected
joint
B/L & asymmetrical,
polyarticular
Sacro-iliac joints, hips, spine
(“bamboo” spine)
Dx
Pigmented villonodular synovitis
Soft tissue tumor causes pressure
atrophy of adjacent bones
Joint space preservation
Can mimic gouty
Signs of
Arthritis mutilans
pencil-in-cup
mortar-in-pestle
whittling
sucked candy
Dx
Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis
Large, bone spurs
Calcaneus, spine
Septic Arthritis
Increased soft tissue density & volume
Subchondral resorption
Osteolysis
Monoarticular
Any joint
Dx
Neuropathic Osteoarthropathy
(Charcot)
Subchondral resorption
Subluxation/dislocation
Fragmentation (detritus)
Diffuse sclerosis
Any joint
UNILATERAL
