Ankylosing Spondylitis (Subscribe)  

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic, progressive inflammatory rheumatic disease involving primarily the sacroiliac joints and the axial skeleton. The main clinical features are back pain and progressive stiffness of the spine. Oligoarthritis of the hips and shoulders, enthesopathy, and anterior uveitis are common, and involvement of the heart and...

hip joint:
- is affected in upto 50 % of patients with AS, and when it occurs it is often bilateral;
- protrusio and hip flexion contractures are...

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic seronegative spondyloarthropathy which primarily involves the axial skeleton (e.g. sacroiliitis and spondylitis). The aetiology is unknown but involves the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. The diagnosis is made by combining clinical criteria of inflammatory back pain and enthesitis (inflammation at the site of bone...

Biomarkers may provide information that promotes understanding of prognosis, disease activity, and pathogenesis in ankylosing spondylitis. Biomarkers reflecting disease activity (metallo- proteinase-3) and inflammatory lesions on magnetic resonance imaging predict new bone formation and are ameliorated by anti- tumor necrosis factor therapy, yet this treatment may not prevent new bone...