ILIA Instrumental and Lab Tests for Arthropathies

The Course in Instrumental and Lab Tests for Arthropathies entails the acquisition of crosscutting competences in the clinical/diagnostic framing of patient suffering from rheumatic diseases with joint involvement.

The Course provides specific skills in identifying the physiopathological path for joint disease, in identifying and assessing early clinical cases of the disease, in using instrumental diagnostics, in multi-disciplinary sharing for diseases that may require a multi-specialized intervention, especially in the case of multi-factor diseases.

The Course in Instrumental and Lab Tests for Arthropathies prepares rheumatologists, physiatrists, orthopaedics, general surgeons, sports doctors and radiologists.

The course can be useful to introduce doctors with a different background to the knowledge of tests and manoeuvres that can refine the diagnostic definition of inflammatory forms in the early stages of the disease and in degenerative ones.

Trained professionals may be employed in clinics, hospitals and/or universities.

The Course in Instrumental and Lab Tests for Arthropathies provides training on:

• Pathological anatomy: anatomy of joint structures and joint-related pathological processes.
• Image diagnostics: overview of the instrumental exams useful for a diagnostic framing of joint diseases. 
• Radiography: assessment of joint osseous structure, defining of the characteristics and distribution of joint inflammatory/degenerative disease onsets, on the cartilaginous/osseous tissue.
• Computed axial tomography (CAT): high-resolution assessment of the bone, and cross-sectional assessment of osseous structure images; technical demonstrations and illustration of pathological frameworks, indications to carry out guided CAT for arthrocentesis and infiltrations in specific area.
• Nuclear magnetic resonance: assessment of early-onset diseases and inflammatory damage, study of soft tissue, assessment of joint and peri-joint structure images in every plane and axis. This is a highly sensitive technique, useful to study areas that are hard to frame. 
• Ultrasound: assessment of soft joint and peri-joint tissues and early rheumatic disease alteration, essential for a surgical/invasive approach in infiltration and arthrocentesis manoeuvres, especially in small joint and peritendinitis areas. 
• Osseous densitometry: assessment of osseous involvement, both for the inflammatory aspect and demineralization, and differential diagnosis frameworks.
• Pathological basis for treatment identification: synovial joint biopsy and liquid biopsy (synovial liquid examination).

The Course in Instrumental and Lab Tests for Arthropathies will be held in different modes. First, through in-person theoretical lessons on fundamentals of anatomy, rheumatic pathology, instrumental diagnostics. 

Second, through a clinical traineeship on patients and cadavers; and third, through a hands-on lab practice focused in particular on synovial liquid analysis. During the course, attendance periods in the clinic and lab structures will be held.

The general ranking of merit for the academic year 2025/26 will be published on the Italian page of this Course according to the timing provided in the Call.