EDITORIAL
Just released from the ASAS factory! First steps towards a disease activity score for ankylosing spondylitis
Correspondence to:
Professor M Boers, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Centre, PK 6Z 185, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands; keb.info@vumc.nl
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The burden of disease in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) has been hard to grasp for doctors not directly involved in the care of these patients. With inflammation primarily affecting the axial skeleton, the outward manifestations are limited until late in the disease, when irreversible stiffening (ankylosis) and sometimes deformation progressively limit physical function and lead to disability. Society has little patience for patients with AS where so many people have complaints in the lower back area, and the insidious nature of AS allows patients to stay active participants in society for a very long time. However, the rapid uptake of biological agents, the first truly effective treatment beyond non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs revealed a large unmet need to alleviate the suffering caused by pain and stiffness.
The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) initiative started in 1992 with a consensus conference on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) outcome measures, but very early on scientists involved
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- Development of an ASAS-endorsed disease activity score (ASDAS) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis
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Ann Rheum Dis 2009 68: 18-24.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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