Correlation of enthesitis indices with disease activity and function in axial and peripheral spondyloarthritis: a cross-sectional study comparing MASES, SPARCC and LEI

Abstract

Background: The presence of enthesitis is associated with higher disease activity, more disability and incapacity to work and a poorer quality of life in spondyloarthritis (SpA). There is currently no consensus on which clinical score should be used to assess enthesitis in SpA. The objective of the present work was to compare the correlation of three enthesitis indices (MASES, SPARCC and LEI) with measures of disease activity and function in a heterogeneous population of patients with axial and peripheral SpA. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in three Brazilian public university hospitals; patients fulfilling ASAS classification criteria for peripheral or axial SpA were recruited and measures of disease activity and function were collected and correlated to three enthesitis indices: MASES, SPARCC and LEI using Spearman's Correlation index. ROC curves were used to determine if the the enthesitis indices were useful to discriminate patients with active disease from those with inactive disease. Results: Two hundred four patients were included, 71.1% (N = 145) fulfilled ASAS criteria for axial SpA and 28.9% (N = 59) for peripheral SpA. In axial SpA, MASES performed better than LEI (p = 0.018) and equal to SPARCC (p = 0.212) regarding correlation with disease activity (BASDAI) and function (BASFI). In peripheral SpA, only MASES had a weak but statistical significant correlation with DAS28-ESR (r s 0.310 p = 0.05) and MASES had better correlation with functional measures (HAQ) than SPARCC (p = 0.034). Conclusion: In this sample composed of SpA patients with high coexistence of axial and peripheral features, MASES showed statistical significant correlation with measures of disease activity and function in both axial and peripheral SpA.

Characterization of Patients With Axial Spondyloarthritis by Enthesitis Presence: Data from the Corrona Psoriatic Arthritis/Spondyloarthritis Registry

“…We also found that patients with enthesitis were more likely to be receiving combination therapy, further suggesting that this population had more severe or burdensome disease. These results are consistent with previous studies showing that presence of enthesitis in patients with axSpA is correlated with increased disease severity and poorer quality of life (25)(26)(27). Additionally, consistent with previous reports (27-29), we observed more frequent enthesitis among female patients (50%) versus male patients (32%).…”

Ultrasonographic evaluation of Achilles tendon: Is there any difference between ankylosing spondylitis, non‐radiographic axial spondyloarthropathy and controls?

“…Question 4 of BASDAI is related to enthesitis. It was reported in previous studies that question 4 had higher correlation with the clinical enthesitis scores such as MASES, Leeds Enthesitis Index, and the SPARCC than the remaining items of the BASDAI . Therefore, we investigated whether there was an association between the 4th question of the BASDAI and US findings.…”

Achilles Tendon Thickness Is an Independent Predictor of Carotid Atherosclerosis and Is Associated With a Carotid Plaque Burden

“…It is known that in patients with chronic inflammatory disease, for example, ankylosing spondylitis or psoriasis, there are significantly higher rates (compared with the general population) of developing tendon thickening, enthesitis, and enthesopathy (pathologic change of the insertion of tendons on the bone), which are directly correlating with the activity of diseases. 19,20 According to Gonzalez-Juanatey et al, such patients show significantly higher rates (compared with a control group) of carotid atherosclerosis. 21,22 During the study performed, we did not find significant associations between the level of hsCRP and ATT.…”