Ankylosing spondylitis, formerly known as Bechterew’s disease or MarieStrümpell disease, is a type of inflammatory rheumatic disease which affects mostly the spine. In the end-stage of this disease, patients suffer from complete fusion and rigidity of the spine—the so-called "bamboo spine". Here, you will find all the relevant facts on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) that you need for your rheumato...

Background and aims: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an idiopathic chronic inflammatory disease mainly involves sacroiliac and axial joints; but it may also have extra-articular involvement. Accordingly, this study was designed to determine the frequency of cardiac involvement among patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Methods: This study was performed as a descriptive-analytical cross-se...

The association of idiopathic achalasia with ankylosing spondylitis and retroperitoneal fibrosis, to our knowledge not previously reported, is described in a 54 year old woman. We suggest that the consecutive occurrence of ankylosing spondylitis and retroperitoneal fibrosis, two well-known autoimmune disorders, before the presence of achalasia, reinforces the theory of autoimmunity in etiopatho...

Ankylosing spondylitis, formerly known as Bechterew’s disease or MarieStrümpell disease, is a type of inflammatory rheumatic disease which affects mostly the spine. In the end-stage of this disease, patients suffer from complete fusion and rigidity of the spine—the so-called "bamboo spine". Here, you will find all the relevant facts on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) that you need for your rheumato...

Ankylosing spondylitis, formerly known as Bechterew’s disease or MarieStrümpell disease, is a type of inflammatory rheumatic disease which affects mostly the spine. In the end-stage of this disease, patients suffer from complete fusion and rigidity of the spine—the so-called "bamboo spine". Here, you will find all the relevant facts on ankylosing spondylitis (AS) that you need for your rheumato...

To date, anti-tumor necrosis factor alfa (anti-TNF-α) therapy is the only alternative to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. Etanercept is a soluble TNF receptor, with a mode of action and pharmacokinetics different to those of antibodies and distinctive efficacy and safety. Etanercept has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of ankylosing spondyl...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osseous morphology in a consecutive sample of Mexican patients with ankylosing spondylitis. METHODS Consecutive patients with a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis who attended two secondary care outpatient rheumatology clinics were included in the study. Patients had a rheumatological assessment using a structured questionnaire and examinat...

INTRODUCTION It is generally accepted that neuraxial anesthesia is difficult to establish in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. General anesthesia also has some disadvantages, especially with respect to airway control in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. We present herein a gravida with ankylosing spondylitis who had a cesarean delivery performed under spinal anesthesia. CASE A 30-yr-o...

PURPOSE The risk of atherosclerosis is increased in several rheumatological disorders, but any such risk remains unproven for ankylosing spondylitis. Since carotid intima-media thickness is an indicator of early atherosclerosis, and the paraoxonase (PON1) enzyme has antioxidant activity to prevent LDL oxidation, we aimed to identify: 1) the relationship between carotid intima-media thickness (C...

We investigated the distribution of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 subtypes in Uygur ankylosing spondylitis patients in Xinjiang. B27-positive patients with ankylosing spondylitis were subtyped by using polymerase chain reaction-sequence-based typing. The HLA-B27 subtype frequencies of Uygur patients were compared with those in Han patients in Xinjiang and the other areas of China. B*2705 wa...