Pain in joints and other structures of the musculoskeletal system is a common complaint in women. It may occur as functional pain, in many cases as inflammatory episode of arthrosis or of metabolic joint disease, sometimes as early manifestation of rheumatoid disease. With conventional radiography, high-resolution sonography, and MR imaging it is possible to classify many of these clinical syndromes. A semiquantitative assessment of inflammatory activity can be made by analysing the degree of joint effusion, the thickness of the synovium and the extent of hypervascularisation.