Ankylosing spondylitis - experience with a self administered questionnaire: an analytical study

Article Abstract:

The Danish Ankylosing Spondylitis Society is a self-help group formed by patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a long-term disease affecting the joints of the vertebrae, the bony segments of the spine. The disease is characterized by thickening of the joints in addition to symptoms associated with rheumatoid arthritis, such as joint inflammation, swelling, stiffness, and pain. In order to gain more knowledge about this joint disorder, the society formulated a questionnaire that was completed by 179 patients with AS. The diagnosis of the disease was delayed an average of 12.6 years in women and 9.5 years in men from the onset of symptoms, and the age at onset of AS was similar for both men and women. The initial involvement of peripheral joints, such as those in the limbs, was more prevalent among patients with juvenile or childhood AS as compared with patients with adult-onset AS. Stiffness developed progressively during the illness. Disease affecting body sites other than the joints occurred in 24 of 47 women and 36 of 121 men. Inflammation of the iris, the contractile membrane in the eye that controls the entrance of light into the eye, and of the conjunctiva, the membrane lining the eyelids, occurred in 15 of 46 women and 18 of 121 men. Findings were consistent with previous studies, and the questionnaire provided additional information about the epidemiology of AS in Denmark. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Prognosis, Surveys

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Mortality and causes of death in 398 patients admitted to hospital with ankylosing spondylitis

Article Abstract:

Some patients with ankylosing spondylitis may die from complications of the disease. Ankylosing spondylitis is a disorder characterized by inflammation of the vertebrae of the spine. Among 398 patients with ankylosing spondylitis who were first admitted to the hospital for treatment between 1961 and 1969, 152 died within an average of 26 years. The number of deaths that occurred among this group of patients was 1 1/2 times the expected number. Patients who had died during the follow-up period were significantly older than those who had not. They also had a higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate and had more inflamed peripheral joints at the time of their first hospital visit. Twenty-seven patients died from complications associated with the development of ankylosing spondylitis.

Patient outcomes, Mortality

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Lumbar osteotomy for correction of thoracolumbar kyphotic deformity in ankylosing spondylitis. A structured review of three methods of treatment

Article Abstract:

Three techniques of lumbar osteotomy surgery may be used to correct thoracolumbar kyphosis in ankylosing spondylitis. Correction of the abnormal spinal curve was lost in some patients treated with open wedge osteotomies and polysegmental wedge osteotomies, and the three procedures -- including closing wedge osteotomy -- can cause neurlogical, cardiac, pulmonary, and intestinal complications. The published literature is insufficient to clearly recommend a surgical technique.

Netherlands, Statistical Data Included, Methods, Surgery, Kyphosis, Osteotomy

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