Ankylosing Spondilitis

Physical exercise (PE) is a regular component in various disorders management, such as ankylosing spondilitis (AS). AS is a chronic and systematic rheumatic disorder without an effective treatment to restore the health. PE plays an important role on the prevention and management of the deformities related to AS. This review summarizes the randomized controlled trials that have examined the role of PE in AS patients' therapeutic process in order to promote an evidence based practise and to improve the AS patients care...

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an inflammatory disorder with unknown etiology that mainly affects the axial skeleton as well as the peripheral joints and extra-articular structures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidative status (TOS) and oxidative stress index (OSI) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Fifty AS patients with a mean Bath AS Activity Index (BASDAI) 4.6 (range 4-9.3) and 26 healthy controls were included in the study. Plasma TAS, TOS levels were determined by using novel automated methods...

Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is a late onset myopathy usually presenting in the 5th or 6th decade of life with progressive ptosis, dysphagia and proximal muscle weakness. It is usually dominantly inherited; however, a rare recessive form has also been described although documentation of such cases in the literature is very sparse. Here we report two siblings with recessive OPMD, in one of whom the clinical picture is complicated by ankylosing spondilitis and pneumonia. They exhibit later onset and milder symptoms than is typical for patients with dominantly inherited OPMD...

The association of Crohn's disease and ankylosing spondylitis is described in up to 30% of cases. Treatment of both conditions is not an easy task. We present the case of a 53 year old woman, diagnosed with colonic Crohn's disease and ankylosing spondilitis, treated initially with increasing doses of sulphasalazine and moderate dose of corticosteroids, with the persistence of severe gastrointestinal and articular symptoms. She underwent therapy with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) inhibitor infliximab, with a spectacular improvement of symptoms, signs and quality of life...

The aim of this study was to investigate cochlear functions in patients with ankylosing spondilitis (AS). Prospective, case control study. Twenty-eight AS patients (56 ears) and 25 healthy control subjects (50 ears) were included in the study. Pure-tone audiometry at 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 6,000 Hz and immittance measures including tympanometry and acoustic reflex and DPOAEs (Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emission) testing were performed in the patients and controls. Pure-tone audiometry findings of the patients and controls were significantly different in all frequencies (P < 0...

Spinal fractures can occur after minor traumas due to the fragility of osseous or ligamentous structures of the spine in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. They are usually seen in the thoracolumbar region of the spine. However, the cervical region is an extremely rare location for these fractures. We present a 52-year-old male with ankylosing spondilitis who had complaints of weakness in the lower extremities and difficulty with walking after a fall from height. Neurologic examination revealed a progressive loss of motor function...

Ochronotic spondyloarthropathy is a rare metabolic disease with the musculoskeletal manifestations of alkaptonuria. Ochronotic arthropathy patients may have spinal abnormalities similar to ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The proof of sacroiliac involvement or bamboo spine appearance is not sufficient either for diagnosis of ankylosing spondilitis or exclusion of ochronosis. In this report, the case of a 54-year-old woman having ochronosis, with clinically more recognizable axial arthropathy resembling AS, is presented, and the history, clinical presentation, diagnostic techniques, and distinctive diagnosis are reviewed...

Operative treatment of Ankylosing spondilitis is usually performed in treatment of extraspinal pathology, i.e. in treatment of hip contractures. Operative treatment of fixed spinal kyphosis in AS is rarely indicated, and patients make their decision for the operation when deformation becomes extreme. Instead of several hundred of operated patients in foreign literature, authors describe only 5 operations from 1989 to 2000. Results suggest that multiple spinal osteotomy in AS is a time consuming operation with a significant intraoperative and postoperative blood loss...

We present an instance of successful use of an intubating laryngeal mask airway (LMA-Fastrach) and a Cook airway exchanger (CAE) for ventilation and intubation in a patient with severe ankylosing spondilitis (AS) receiving total hip arthroplasty. This measure may serve as an effective alternative for airway management in patients with difficult airway. A 61-year-old male was scheduled for right total hip arthroplasty because of degenerative osteoarthritis. He had been suffering from extensive ankylosing spondylitis, with the cervical spine markedly fixed in anterior flexion...

HLA classes I and II profiles were determined among 45 unrelated Lebanese Greek Orthodox by the complement dependent lymphomicrocytotoxicity assay. HLA epitope frequencies and alleles in linkage disequilibrium were determined; the obtained results were then compared to those reported for other groups. Moreover, possible HLA-disease associations were examined; medical history in relation to diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondilitis was taken for each of the 45 individuals. The results indicated that: 1) There were similarities and differences in HLA frequencies and alleles in linkage disequilibrium in Greek Orthodox as compared to those in other groups...

We present a case of female patient who's been treated 28 years, under the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis because of the symmetric polyarthritis. After 28 years radiography of sacro-iliac joints and thoracolumbar vertebra was taken and showed changes typical for ankylosing spondylitis with asymmetrical affection of peripheral joints and with irreversible changes only in knees joints. Rheumatoid factor in serum was always negative, and the patient has also an iridocyclitis. We conclude that the diagnosis is surely ankylosing spondilitis...

Sacroiliac index (SI index) was determined by the quantitative scintigraphy in 106 patients:28 with ankylosing spondilitis, 51 with Reiter's disease, 9 with psoriatic, 18 with unclassified seronegative spondylarthropathy and in 20 controls. For the right joint, statistically significant difference was found between the control group SI-index value and the one in patients' group (p < 0.001 to p < 0.005) except in patients with psoriatic spondylarthropathy. Analysing each group of patients separately, statistically significant difference between the SI index of both left and right joint was present only in the group with Reiter's disease (t = 2...

To determine the prevalence of rheumatic diseases in Chinese of Han nationality in the north and the south of China, samples of 4,192 adults in Beijing (north) and 5,057 in Shantou (south) area were studied. The same questionnaire was administered to each subject surveyed. Physical examinations were done in all who gave positive answers. For those who gave positive response to certain set of questions, blood antinuclear antibody and rheumatoid factor tests and radiographs of hand and/or sacroiliac joint were done...

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Genetic analysis of antigene HLA-B27 was performed in 11 families with seronegative spondylarthritides (SSA). 107 family members were examined. In all of them determination of antigene HLA-B27 was done, and all the patients, as well as the family members who anamnestically had any rheumatic troubles, were checked completely. The analysis showed strong linkage between antigene HLA-B27 and the disease. Of 30 affected persons, 26 (87%) were HLA-B27 positive. The linkage has been mostly expressed in patients with ankylosing spondilitis (AS), (15 persons) i...

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