Longitudinal Follow-Up Using the Heel Enthesitis Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scoring System (HEMRIS) Shows Minimal Changes in Heel Enthesitis Assessed in Spondyloarthritis and Psoriasis Patients

Enthesitis is a common clinical feature of spondyloarthritis (SpA). For reliable assessment of enthesitis the Heel Enthesitis Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scoring System (HEMRIS) was developed. The aims of this study were to evaluate changes in HEMRIS over time and to evaluate whether these changes correlated with changes in clinical parameters. This single-center observational study followed patients with SpA and psoriasis, regardless of presence of clinical heel enthesitis, for two years. Clinical evaluation and ankle MRIs were performed annually. Changes in HEMRIS were compared at one-year intervals using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The association between changes in the HEMRIS with changes in clinical parameters was evaluated using Spearman's correlation coefficient. In total, 38 patients were included. An increase in the inflammatory and structural HEMRIS was identified in, respectively, 12 (17.9%) and 4 (6.0%) patients in one-year intervals. We found non-significant changes in the HEMRIS during longitudinal follow-up. Changes in the HEMRIS did not correlate with changes in local or general disease activity. Our results show that MRI-findings of enthesitis assessed with HEMRIS changed in a small number of patients in a one-year interval in an observational setting. Changes in HEMRIS were not associated with changes in clinical disease activity.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the application of HEMRIS in patients with SpA and psoriasis, showing that some patients had changes in HEMRIS in a one-year interval, but these changes were not associated with changes in clinical disease activity.