TY - JOUR T1 - Small joint ankylosis in rheumatoid arthritis: a vanishing phenomenon or a pathogenetic clue, or both? JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO - Ann Rheum Dis SP - 1786 LP - 1787 DO - 10.1136/ard.2007.086900 VL - 67 IS - 12 AU - I Leden AU - J Theander AU - B Svensson Y1 - 2008/12/01 UR - http://ard.bmj.com/content/67/12/1786.abstract N2 - The main pathological feature of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is synovitis, which may become erosive and extend to cartilage and bone and cause bone resorption with subsequent joint instability. In contrast, the spondyloarthropathies are characterised by enthesitis, which may bring about new bone formation with osteophytes and ankylosis.Only recently these important differences in pathogenesis have become elucidated.1 Earlier, ankylosis had been accepted as a part of RA.2 Interestingly, in palaeopathological publications the existence of ankylosis in RA has for a long time been a matter of dispute and even denied.3–5To examine this subject further, the occurrence of spontaneous ankylosis was studied in patients attending the rheumatology unit at Kristianstad County Hospital in southern Sweden … ER -