The use of digital tomosynthesis in rheumatology: a systematic review of the literature focused on four diseases.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Digital tomosynthesis has proven useful in the evaluation of damage to joints. This study aims to describe the most common digital tomosynthesis findings for four rheumatological entities and to compare the usefulness of this technique with that of other imaging techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS Following the PRISMA guidelines, we systematically searched the literature for articles about the use of digital tomosynthesis in rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, spondyloarthritis, and gout. We used the QUADAS-2 (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies) criteria to evaluate the quality of the articles included. RESULTS We included 13 articles. For rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and spondyloarthritis, digital tomosynthesis detected bone abnormalities better than plain-film X-rays; however, for gout, the results were variable. CONCLUSIONS Digital tomosynthesis can play an important role in the evaluation of skeletal abnormalities in rheumatological disease, especially compared to plain-film X-rays.