Radiological changes in men and women with ankylosing spondylitis.

Abstract

SUMMARY The radiographic changes of ankylosing spondylitis were studied in 50 females and 82 males. There was a tendency for the males to have more severe arthritic changes in the sacroiliac joints than the females, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Males significantly more often had radiological involvement of the lumbar spine. More restricted lumbar mobility, total spinal flexion, and chest expansion were found in males with x-ray changes in the lumbar spine than in males without such features. No were reviewed. Hospital records contained sufficient information for the purpose of the present study in 82 cases of AS (22 females and 60 males), and these were therefore included in the analysis. In addition, an epidemiological survey was undertaken in Troms0 municipality in 1979, and the 22 males and five females with definite AS identified through this survey were also included. In order to obtain a sufficient number of female AS patients for the investigation 23 additional females with AS consecutively seen at Revmatismehuset, Trondheim, Norway were included. Thus, altogether 50 females aged 23-63 years (mean age 40-6 years) and 82 males aged 20-59 years (mean age 36-7 years) were studied ( Table 1). The mean disease duration was 15*3 years (range 2-45 years) in females and 13-7 years (range 1-41 years) in males (Table 1).Clinical examination. The mobility of the lumbar spine was measured by Schober's test,13 and total spinal mobility (except the cervical spine) was determined by spondylometry.'4 Chest expansion was measured according to accepted standards.'5The age at onset of AS was given by the patients themselves. Because of possible observer variation between clinicians at the two hospitals, the results of 570 on 8 May 2018 by guest. Protected by copyright.

The early disease stage in axial spondylarthritis: Results from the german spondyloarthritis inception cohort

“…It has been reported previously that among patients with longstanding AS, male patients have worse radiographic outcomes in the spine than do female patients (20,(31)(32)(33). This was also the case in GESPIC, because male sex but neither HLA-B27 positivity, symptom duration, nor the BASDAI was independently associated with the presence of syndesmophytes in the spines of patients with AS.…”

Development of new syndesmophytes and bridges in ankylosing spondylitis and their predictors: a longitudinal study

“…When consecutive vertebrae are ankylosed, it may lead to the appearance of a ‘bamboo spine’. Structural damage of the spine is an important outcome measure in AS and is associated with worse physical function and limitation of spinal mobility 1–5. Both for clinical practice and for study purposes it is important to know which factors predict radiographic progression in AS.…”

“…Both for clinical practice and for study purposes it is important to know which factors predict radiographic progression in AS. Radiographic damage, in general, is found to be more severe in men and in patients with hip involvement 16–8. Conflicting results exist with respect to the relation between disease duration and radiographic damage.…”

Treatment of ankylosing spondylitis with biologics and targeted physical therapy

“…The finger-to-floor distance depends on the extensibility of hamstring muscles and the thoracolumbar lateral flexion is influenced by the extensibility of spine muscles. The occiput-to-wall distance is defined by curvature and mobility of the spine, tilt of the pelvis, and stiffness around the hip and spine [20,33]. Normal chest expansion requires normal costovertebral, costosternal, manubriosternal, and sternoclavicular joints.…”

“…In AS, chest pain often occurs as a consequence of costovertebral and costotransverse joint involvement and might be associated with tenderness over sternocostal and costosternal junctions [19,20]. Pulmonary function abnormalities are due mainly to the restriction of chest wall movement [21].…”