Novel MRI-Based Scoring System Assesses Hip Inflammation in Osteoarthritis

A novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based semiquantitative scoring system has shown reliability for assessing markers of hip inflammation, including bone marrow lesions, in patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA), according to study results published in The Journal of Rheumatology.

The researchers evaluated the feasibility, responsiveness, and reliability of the Hip Inflammation MRI Scoring System (HIMRISS) in 90 patients with hip OA. The study was conducted by a total of 8 readers who scored 360 hips that were imaged both before and 8 weeks after fluoroscopically guided steroid injection. Images from the 2 scans were evaluated simultaneously for participants and readers were blinded as to the timing of each scan.

After statistical analysis, the researchers found that bone marrow lesion scoring reliability was excellent among all readers, with an intraclass correlation coefficient range of 0.83 to 0.92. In addition, the team reported that the degree of bone marrow lesion change scores from baseline to 8 weeks postinjection was minimal.

The intraclass correlation coefficient range at the femoral head was 0.76 to 0.81 and 0.42 to 0.56 at the acetabulum, which represented high and moderate interobserver reliability for bone marrow lesion change scores, respectively.

The primary limitation of the study was the inability to assess the discriminative capacity of the scoring system.

“[The] HIMRISS should be a priority for further assessment of hip [bone marrow lesions] in OA, and evaluated for use in other arthropathies,” the researchers wrote.

Reference

Jaremko JL, Lambert RGW, Pedersen SJ, et al. OMERACT Hip Inflammation Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scoring System (HIMRISS) assessment in longitudinal study [published online February 15, 2019]. J Rheumatol. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.181043