Figure 9.

(A) Bone edema. T2-weighted fat-suppressed coronal image shows intermediate signal in the bone of the second metacarpal (arrow) and in the carpal bones (arrowheads). In the setting of RA this can represent edema. (B) T1-weighted fat-suppressed axial image shows uniform intermediate signal through the metacarpal bases. T1-weighted images without contrast are not sensitive for detection of bone edema. (C) T1-weighted fat-suppressed axial image after Gadolinium contrast enhancement shows diffusely increased bone signal at the base of the second metacarpal (arrow), consistent with enhancing edema (Image courtesy of Dr. Kathleen Brindle, the George Washington University, Washington D.C.).