The
spondylarthropathies (SpA) comprise a family of chronic inflammatory diseases affecting the spine, joints, eyes and skin.
The cause of AS is not known, but all of the
spondylarthropathies share a common genetic marker, called HLA-B27, in most affected individuals.
Overall, only about 2 percent of B27-positive individuals will develop one of the seronegative
spondylarthropathies."
Taurog and Hammer also were able to confirm the long-suspected link between the genetic element HLA-B27, which is involved in the regulation of the human immune system, and the
spondylarthropathies.
Criteria of the classification of
spondylarthropathies. Rev Rhum Mal Osteoartic 1990; 57: 85-9.
Remlinger et al., "Prevalence of
spondylarthropathies in HLA-B27 positive and negative blood donors," Arthritis & Rheumatology, vol.
Canoui-Poitrine et al., "Lack of efficacy of abatacept in axial
spondylarthropathies refractory to tumor-necrosis-factor inhibition," Joint Bone Spine, vol.
Euller-Ziegler, "Safety of anti-TNF-[alpha] therapy in rheumatoid arthritis and
spondylarthropathies with concurrent B or C chronic hepatitis," Rheumatology, vol.
Measures of symptoms and disease status in ankylosing spondylitis: Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS), Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life Scale (ASQoL), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Global Score (BAS-G), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI), Dougados Functional Index (DFI), and Health Assessment Questionnaire for the
Spondylarthropathies (HAQ-S).
Assessment of the efficacy of sacroiliac corticosteroid injections in
spondylarthropathies: a double-blind study.
Evaluation of the Amor criteria for
spondylarthropathies and European Spondylarthropathy Study Group (ESSG).
The most often cited classification criteria for SpA are the Europian
Spondylarthropathies Study Group (ESSG) criteria that were proposed in 1991.