[Diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis:toward the best practice. The utility of MRI for clinical practice in rheumatoid arthritis.]

Imaging is important and essential for clinical practice in rheumatoid arthritis(RA). MRI and musculoskeletal ultrasonography(MSUS)are helpful to detect early as well as accurate joint injury of RA patients, and thus, potentially useful in early diagnosis, evaluating disease activity, therapeutic outcome and prediction of joint outcome. Articular synovitis, tenosynovitis and bone marrow edema are useful to predict RA progression. Bone marrow edema is closely associated with radiographic bone erosion. In addition, we are necessary to pay attention to the influence of aging that increases of MRI-detected joint changes, especially in hand and foot joints.