Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful for identifying arthritis and other joint diseases, but researchers on a new study found that it could be used to measure bone density and sclerosis–abnormal hardening of the bone.

Subchondral bone sclerosis can be a sign of arthritis, but it can also be a sign of the physiologic adaptation of bone to exercise.

Julien Olive, DVM, MSc, and his colleagues from the University of Montreal compared MRI with computed tomography (CT) to see if they could tell the difference between physiologic (from exercise) and pathologic (diseased) sclerosis, and whether they could measure the progression of the sclerosis.

"The only way to limit excessive bone sclerosis is to limit overload of joints and, therefore, limit exercise," he said. "That doesn't mean that all horses should be rested all the time! But with MRI, we can see progression of individual joint parameters leading to osteoarthritis and, therefore, it is the preferred method to identify disease earlier and follow progression of the disease to better adapt training programs