Early referral recommendations for ankylosing spondylitis (including pre-radiographic and radiographic forms) in primary care

J Sieper; M Rudwaleit

doi:10.1136/ard.2004.028753

Early referral recommendations for ankylosing spondylitis (including pre-radiographic and radiographic forms) in primary care

Ann Rheum Dis. 2005 May;64(5):659-63. doi: 10.1136/ard.2004.028753. Epub 2004 Nov 4.

Authors

J Sieper¹, M Rudwaleit

Affiliation

¹ Medical Department I, Rheumatology, Charitè, University Medicine Berlin, Germany. joachim.sieper@charite.de

Abstract

An earlier diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is required because there is still a 5-7 year delay between first symptoms and diagnosis, and new effective treatments are available for active disease. Primary care physicians need easy to apply parameters to help them identify patients with suspected AS for onward referral. The best measures found were inflammatory back pain and HLA-B27 positivity.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adult
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / therapeutic use
Back Pain / etiology
Biomarkers / analysis
Early Diagnosis
HLA-B27 Antigen / analysis
Humans
Mass Screening / methods
Primary Health Care / methods*
Referral and Consultation
Spondylitis, Ankylosing / complications
Spondylitis, Ankylosing / diagnosis*
Spondylitis, Ankylosing / drug therapy

Substances

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
Biomarkers
HLA-B27 Antigen