[Unexpected back pain in the elderly ankylosing spondylitis patient].

A 63-year-old man with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) presented with persistent pain in his back after minor trauma. Radiographs revealed no acute pathology. Six weeks later an MRI scan was performed which showed a vertebral fracture at level Tiii with kyphotic deformity.

[Bechterew disease and top level sport: an attainable combination?].

One 23-year-old and two 24- year-old athletes were diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis. Because of their wish to compete in sport at the highest level, we considered the feasible extent and intensity of physical sports-load regarding the short-, middle- and long-term effects in this particular subgroup of ankylosing spondylitis patients. We could not find any published articles regarding the physical capacities of highly motivated athletes with ankylosing spondylitis.

Functional Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and Psychological HAQ Are Associated with and Predicted by Different Factors in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: To evaluate the association between clinical, demographic, and psychological factors and the functional Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and psychological HAQ (PSHAQ) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: After a mean followup time of 7 years after diagnosis, 112 patients with RA were asked to fill out the HAQ and the PSHAQ. Several clinical variables [erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), visual analog scale (VAS) pain, VAS general well-being, Thompson joint score, and morning stiffness] had been assessed at diagnosis and at followup.