Fatty lesions may not be responsible for the effects of vertebral corner inflammation on syndesmophyte formation in patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, according to a report published by Stal et al in RMD Open. In two analyses, researchers assessed the syndesmophytes of 49 patients with 2,667 vertebral corners in the SIAS cohort and 168 patients with 2,918 vertebral corners in the ASSERT trial. Using whole-spine low-dose computed tomography scans in the first group and spinal radiographs in the second group, the researchers measured inflammation at baseline and after 2 years of follow-up. They discovered that the presence of inflammation at baseline signified an increased risk of syndesmophyte development—at the same vertebral corner—of 9.3% and 7.3% among patients in the SIAS cohort and ASSERT trial, respectively, after 2 years. Among these total effects, a corresponding 0.2% and 0.8% of the syndesmophytes formed via intermediate new fat deposition. The researchers concluded that although vertebral corner inflammation was potentially associated with syndesmophyte formation, only a low number of cases were resultant from fatty lesions.
July 20, 2023