Conclusion.Patients with nr-axSpA were characterized by the low proportion of male patients and the low burden of inflammation compared to patients with AS. While both groups did not differ regarding health status, disease activity, and physical function, they did differ in signs of inflammation; all were higher in patients with AS. Since many patients with nr-axSpA had not developed structural changes after years of symptoms, we propose that those patients should not be regarded as having preradiographic AS but rather as having nr-axSpA.

Patients with severe RA who do not respond to MTX treatment have a poor prognosis, with >4-fold increased mortality compared with the general population, while RA patients who respond to MTX treatment have only a moderately increased mortality rate.

No abstract

RTX is effective in the treatment of severe forms of Jo1 antisynthetase syndrome. In our retrospective study, the presence of high anti-Ro52 antibody concentrations predicts severe acute-onset ILD and nonresponse to IS drugs. In contrast to conventional IS, RTX is equally effective in patients with Jo1 antisynthetase syndrome, independent of their anti-Ro52 antibody status.

The burden of inflammation is quite comparable in patients with axSpA-regardless of disease activity. These data clearly challenge the concept of the recommended cut-off point of BASDAI ≥ 4.

FM patients only rarely fulfil classification criteria for axSpA but some axSpA patients also fulfil FM criteria. Since this was more frequent in patients with AS it may be related to the severity and duration of chronic pain in axSpA patients. Assessment instruments evaluated in axSpA are not disease-specific. The phenomenon of central pain sensitization in rheumatic diseases deserves more study.

Die Medizin unterliegt einem fortwährenden Entwicklungsprozess, sodass alle Angaben, insbesondere zu therapeutischen Verfahren, immer nur dem Wissenstand zur Zeit der Drucklegung der Leitlinie entsprechen können. Hinsichtlich der angegebenen Empfehlungen zur Therapie wurde die größtmögliche Sorgfalt beachtet. Der Benutzer selbst bleibt verantwortlich für jede diagnostische und therapeutische Applikation, Medikation und Dosierung.

AS and nr-axSpA patients had similar response rates to NSAIDs while objective signs of inflammation did not change over 4 weeks. Only a minority of patients was willing to take maximal doses of NSAIDs, and ⩾40% patients remained candidates for TNF blockers. These results may influence future trial designs.