Xenon-133 was used to study regional pulmonary function in nine patients with chest cage rigidity due to ankylosing spondylitis. In comparison with normal subjects, the patients showed an overall diminution in lung volume and the proportion of inhaled xenon reaching the lung apices was reduced but the distribution of injected xenon was normal. The possible relationship between these findings an...

After precipitation of the HLA-B27 antigen from the surface of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) by means of an anti-HLA-B27 allospecific monoclonal antibody 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis was used to compare the structure of the B27 antigens derived from 5 patients with ankylosing spondylitis with that of healthy HLA-B27 positive counterparts. No significant difference in polypeptide struc...

Etanercept is a tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) antagonist with anti-inflammatory effects. It is used in the treatment of dermatologic and rheumatologic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, polyarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. However, etanercept has various cutaneous and systemic side effects. Herein, we report a case of generalized...

Cauda equina syndrome is an unusual complication of ankylosing spondylitis. We present a case of a 68-year-old woman with long-standing ankylosing spondylitis who developed cauda equina syndrome. MRI revealed a characteristic widening of the lumbosacral thecal sac and numerous dorsal thecal diverticula. MRI is a powerful, noninvasive tool to confirm the diagnosis and exclude a treatable compres...

Patients with ankylosing spondylitis often seem tall and slim, but it may be difficult to measure their height accurately because of fixed spinal deformities. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that patients with ankylosing spondylitis are taller than normal controls by measuring radiographs of the bones of the hands, since such measurements have been shown to reflect abnormalities ...

ankylosing spondylitis (as) is an inflammatory arthritis, which affects mainly spine and sacroiliac joints. according to recent studies, erap1 is the second most common candidate gene for  as susceptibility after hla-b27. the  aim of this study was to  determine the association of erap1 gene polymorphisms with as in iranian population. the study group comprised 387 iranian as patients and 316 h...

Histocompatibility typing was carried out in 74 patients with psoriasis and an inflammatory arthropathy. In 40 patients with peripheral arthropathy characterized by distal interphalangeal joint involvement, 13 (32-5%) were HLA-B27 positive, significantly higher than the control frequency (P = 5-8 X 10 (-6). 26 of the 40 patients did not have ankylosing spondylitis or radiological sacroiliitis a...

Much has been written on ankylosing spondylitis but nothing regarding its hindrance to pregnancy or its interference with normal labour. Since this disease is one involving pelvic joints, and since, as the disease progresses, ankylosis of the joints occurs, it is possible that ankylosing spondylitis would be a hindrance in pregnancy and in normal labour. Polley and Slocumb's (1947) short but co...

Ankylosing spondylitis is reported to involve not only the joints but other organs as well. Among these extra-articular involvements, uncommon complications associated with nervous system such as single root lesions, compression of the myelum and cauda equina syndrome have also been documented. Here we present a patient with long-standing ankylosing spondylitis who developed spastic paraparesis...

The circulating levels of sialic acid (N-acetylneuraminic acid) and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) were measured in 69 patients with spinal disorders of orthopaedic interest (ankylosing spondylitis 17, osteofluorosis 6, idiopathic backache 10, osteoarthrosis 16, osteoporosis 20). The serum GAG levels showed no statistically significant change from control values in the five disorders investigated in...