What Role Does PET/MRI Play in Musculoskeletal Disorders?

Musculoskeletal disorders of nononcological origin are one of the most frequent reasons for consultation. Patients suffering from musculoskeletal disorders also consult more than once for the same reason. This results in multiple clinical follow-ups after several radiological and serum examinations, the main ones including X-rays targeting the painful anatomical region and inflammatory serum parameters. As part of their work up, patients suffering from musculoskeletal disorders often require multisequence, multi-parameter MRI. PET/MRI is a promising imaging modality for their diagnosis, with the added advantage of being able to be performed in a single visit. PET/MRI is particularly useful for diagnosing osteomyelitis, spondylodiscitis, arthritis, many pediatric pathologies, and a wide range of other musculoskeletal pathologies. PET/MRI is already used to diagnose malignant bone tumors such as osteosarcoma. However, current knowledge of the indications for PET/MRI in nononcological musculoskeletal disorders is based on studies involving only a few patients. This review focuses on the usefulness of PET/MRI for diagnosing nononcological musculoskeletal disorders.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Tugce Telli reports a relationship with ABX GmbH that includes: speaking and lecture fees. Robert Seifert reports a relationship with Böhringer Ingelheim Fonds and Else Köner-Fresenius-Stiftung that includes: funding grants. Wolfgang P. Fendler reports a relationship with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc, Calyx Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited, GE Healthcare, Eczacibasi Pharmaceuticals Marketing, ABX GmbH, and Amgen Inc that includes: consulting or advisory, funding grants, and speaking and lecture fees. Federico Caobelli reports a relationship with Siemens Healthineers, Bracco AG and Pfizer AG that includes: funding grants and speaking and lecture fees. Additionally, Wolfgang P. Fendler reports fees from SOFIE Bioscience (Research funding) and Bayer (consultant, speaker, research finding). If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The other authors declare no conflict of interest regarding this manuscript.
(Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)