The value of magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of extraspinal osteoarticular brucellosis

To explore the value of multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosing extraspinal osteoarthritic brucellosis and improve its diagnostic accuracy. Thirty-nine patients diagnosed with brucellosis with corresponding joint pain admitted to our hospital from December 2020 to November 2021 were retrospectively analyzed as study subjects, and all of them underwent MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging, and gadoterate meglumine to observe the MRI imaging features of extraspinal osteoarthritic brucellosis and the affected joints. In order to analyze the diagnostic value of MRI for extraspinal osteoarthritic brucellosis. The shoulder, sacroiliac, and knee joints were the most frequent sites of extraspinal osteoarthritic brucellosis, all accounting for 23.1% of cases, followed by 15.4% of hip joints. The overall lesions showed plaque-like, worm-like, and irregular-shaped damage according to the analysis of the clinical manifestations. Meanwhile, sclerosis at the edges of the lesions was characterized by long T1 and prolonged T2 signal abnormality and high signal in fat suppression-T2-weighted imaging. Overall swelling of the soft tissues in the vicinity of the joint, with long T1 and long T2 signal abnormalities and high signal on fat suppression-T2-weighted imaging. For abscess formation, by analyzing the joint cavity of the patient, the liquid signal shadow of T2 could be seen, and the lesion area showed noticeable uneven sheet enhancement in the enhanced scan. Extraspinal osteoarthritic brucellosis has specific characteristics in MRI, and MRI has significant clinical value in the diagnosis, differentiation, and evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of this disease.