Acute anterior uveitis and other extra-articular manifestations of spondyloarthritis

BACKGROUND Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is associated with an array of peripheral manifestations. Our study aims to evaluate extra-articular manifestations of SpA in a Romanian academic clinical setting and to observe their associations with different disease measures. METHODS The study was designed to note the extra-articular manifestations of SpA patients in a cross-sectional and retrospective manner. Records included demographics, inflammation markers, SpA clinical characteristics, treatment regimes, associated osteoporosis and cardiovascular morbidity. Data were assessed by using appropriate non-parametric tests. RESULTS A total of 126 SpA patients were included. The most common extra-articular manifestations were skin involvement in the form of psoriasis (34.1%), eye involvement in the form of acute anterior uveitis (8.7%) and dactylitis (7.2%). Compared to patients with no record of uveitis, uveitis-affected cases were more frequently males, more frequently diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, but less frequently dyslipidemic and diagnosed with psoriasis. Psoriasis-affected patients were older and had a higher prevalence of peripheral SpA diagnosis, but a lower prevalence of radiographic sacroiliitis. CONCLUSIONS Acute anterior uveitis in SpA predominantly affects males with AS. This is relevant both to clinical and fundamental science, since its management requires both ophthalmology and rheumatology clinical settings. Psoriasis was associated more frequently with peripheral SpA. ABBREVIATIONS AHT = arterial hypertension, AS = ankylosing spondylitis, ASAS = Assessment in SpondyloArthritis international Society, aSpA = axial spondyloarthritis, BASFI = Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index, BASDAI = Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, CRP = C-reactive protein, ESR = erythrocyte sedimentation rate, DM2 = type 2 diabetes mellitus, HLA = human leukocyte antigen, IBD = inflammatory bowel disease, MRI = magnetic resonance imaging, mSpA = mixed (peripheral and axial) spondyloarthritis, NSAIDs = non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, pSpA = peripheral spondyloarthritis, PsA = psoriatic arthritis, ReA = reactive arthritis, SD = standard deviation, SI = sacroiliitis, SpA = spondyloarthritis, UDSpA = undifferentiated spondyloarthritis.