Objectives To investigate the risk of cutaneous herpes zoster (HZ) in spondyloarthritis (SpA) compared with that in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and in disease‐modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) used in SpA. Method A total of 727 patients with an expert diagnosis of SpA were identified retrospectively from four rheumatology centers in Hong Kong. Electronic medical records from 1995 to 2018 were reviewed for incidence of cutaneous HZ and demographic data including age, sex, comorbidities, smoking and drinking status. DMARDs used included sulphasalazine, methotrexate, leflunomide, steroids, etanercept, infliximab, adalimumab, golimumab, secukinumab and ustekinumab. Cox regression models were used to evaluate hazard ratios (HRs) of different DMARDs in patients with SpA. Propensity score was used for matching and comparison with 857 patients with RA. Results There were 23 cases of cutaneous HZ in patients with SpA and 59 cases in patients with RA. Among patients with SpA, 7 cases of cutaneous HZ may be attributed to sulfasalazine treatment, 7 to methotrexate, 2 to leflunomide, 2 to infliximab, 1 to etanercept, 2 to adalimumab, and 1 to secukinumab. Risks of cutaneous HZ were the same in SpA (stratified HR 0.97; 95% CI 0.58; 1.61; P = .89) and RA. Methotrexate (adjusted HR 3.47; 95% CI 1.25; 9.63; P = .02) and infliximab (adjusted HR 10.67; 95% CI 1.37; 82.88; P = .02) were found to be associated with HZ after adjustments for traditional risk factors. Conclusion Risk of cutaneous HZ in SpA was not lower than in RA. Methotrexate and infliximab were associated with cutaneous HZ in SpA.

Objectives This study explored whether the excess cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD) risk in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) could be ameliorated by suppression of inflammation using a treat-to-target (T2T) approach. We compared the CV event (CVE) incidence among ERA patients managed by a T2T strategy with a CV risk factor-matched non-RA population and a historical RA cohort (HRA). Methods This was an observational study using the city-wide hospital data & the ERA registry. ERA patients received T2T management while HRA patients received routine care. Each ERA/HRA patient was matched to 3 non-RA controls according to age, gender and CV risk factors. Patients on antiplatelet/anticoagulant agents, with pre-existing CVD, chronic kidney disease or other autoimmune diseases were excluded. All subjects were followed for up to 5 years. The primary end point was the first occurrence of a CVE. Results The incidence of CVE in the ERA cohort (n = 261) & ERA-controls were similar with a hazard ratio of 0.53 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.15–1.79). In contrast, the incidence of CVE in the HRA cohort (n = 268) was significantly higher than that of the HRA-controls with a hazard ratio of 1.9 (95% CI 1.16–3.13). The incidence of CVE in the ERA cohort was significantly lower than that of the HRA cohort and the difference became insignificant after adjusting for inflammation, the use of methotrexate and traditional CV risk factors. Conclusion ERA patients managed by a T2T strategy did not develop excess CVE compared with CV risk factor-matched controls over 5 years.

Objective The aim was to investigate the relationship between the intensity of spinal inflammation using the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and radiographic progression in axial SpA. Methods This is a cross-sectional study of participants with axial SpA and back pain. Clinical, biochemical and radiological parameters were collected. The ankylosing spondylitis disease activity score (ASDAS)-CRP was determined. Radiographic progression was represented by the modified Stoke ankylosing spondylitis spine score (mSASSS). MRI with short tau inversion recovery (STIR) and diffusion-weighted imaging sequences were performed simultaneously. Inflammatory lesions on STIR were used for the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) MRI indexes and as references in outlining regions of interest in ADC maps to produce mean (ADCmean) and maximal (ADCmax) ADC values. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to determine independent associations between ADC and radiographic progression. Results The 84 participants with identifiable lesions on spinal ADC maps recruited were characterized by a mean (s.d.) age of 45.01 (13.68) years, long disease duration [13.40 (11.01) years] and moderate clinical disease activity [ASDAS-CRP 2.07 (0.83)]. Multivariate regression analysis using ADCmean as the independent variable showed that age (regression coefficient [B] = 0.34; P = 0.01), male sex (B = 0.25; P = 0.04) and ADCmean (B = 0.30; P = 0.01) were positively associated with mSASSS. Multivariate regression analysis using ADCmax as the independent variable showed a tendency for ADCmax to be associated with mSASSS (B = 0.21; P = 0.07). Conclusion The intensity of spinal inflammation as determined by ADC is associated with radiographic progression in participants with active axial SpA.

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The Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) has developed the concept of axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) in 2009. The symptoms and burden of disease of nonradiographic axial SpA and Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) are similar and both can affect multiple organs and systems. Assessment and monitoring in SpA are, therefore, crucial. Different instruments have been developed for assessing and monitoring the wide variety of presentations in SpA. Generally, disease monitoring of patients can include patient reported outcome, clinical findings, laboratory tests, imaging, and disease activity composite scores.