Mechanical Properties of Lumbar and Cervical Paravertebral Muscles in Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis: A Case-Control Study.

Background: Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) affects spinal muscles, due to inflammation and structural damage. The mechanical properties of the muscles, such as tone or stiffness, could be altered in axSpA. The aim of this work is to analyze the mechanical properties of cervical and lumbar spine muscles in axSpA patients and their relationship with metrology measures, function, disease activity, structural damage and quality of life.

Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis Show an Altered Flexion/Relaxation Phenomenon.

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic rheumatic disease characterized by the presence of inflammatory back pain. In patients with chronic low back pain, the lumbar flexion relaxation phenomenon measured by surface electromyography (sEMG) differs from that in healthy individuals. However, sEMG activity in axSpA patients has not been studied.

Measuring Spinal Mobility Using an Inertial Measurement Unit System: A Validation Study in Axial Spondyloarthritis.

Portable inertial measurement units (IMUs) are beginning to be used in human motion analysis. These devices can be useful for the evaluation of spinal mobility in individuals with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). The objectives of this study were to assess (a) concurrent criterion validity in individuals with axSpA by comparing spinal mobility measured by an IMU sensor-based system vs.

How to calculate the ASDAS based on C-reactive protein without individual questions from the BASDAI: the BASDAI-based ASDAS formula.

Objectives: To develop a new equation to calculate the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score based on CRP (ASDAS-CRP) using only the BASDAI total score and CRP.

Methods: Axial SpA (axSpA) patients from the Cordoba Spondyloarthritis Registry cohort were recruited as a derivation cohort, while a retrospective sample from the Spanish Rheumatology Society National Registry of Spondyloarthropathies and Ibero American Spondyloarhtritis Registry registers was used as a validation cohort. We built a new equation based only on the BASDAI and CRP, defining a new formula: the BASDAI-based ASDAS (BASDAS).

High Reproducibility of an Automated Measurement of Mobility for Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis.

Objective: Conventional measures of spinal mobility used in the assessment of patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), such as the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index and its components, are subject to interobserver variability. The University of Córdoba Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (UCOASMI) is a validated composite index based on a motion video-capture system, UCOTrack. Our objective was to assess its reproducibility in clinical practice settings.

Evaluation of quality of life in patients with axial spondyloarthritis and its association with disease activity, functionality, mobility, and structural damage.

To evaluate quality of life (QoL) in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and its association with disease activity, functionality, structural damage, and spinal mobility, using patient-reported outcomes. This was an observational, cross-sectional, and single-center study in which 100 consecutive patients with axSpA were included. We obtained from all patients' sociodemographic data and values related to disease activity, functionality, structural damage, mobility, and quality of life.

Is spinal mobility in patients with spondylitis determined by age, structural damage, and inflammation?

Objective: To explore the association between mobility, inflammation, and structural damage in ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Methods: Patients with AS were included in a cross-sectional study in which spinal mobility was measured by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI) and by the University of Córdoba Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (UCOASMI), based on an automated motion analysis. Structural damage was measured by the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score (mSASSS), and activity by the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity (BASDAI).

Validation of a new objective index to measure spinal mobility: the University of Cordoba Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (UCOASMI).

Spinal mobility measures are subject to high variability and subjectivity. Automated motion capture allows an objective and quantitative measure of mobility with high levels of precision. To validate the University of Cordoba Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (UCOASMI), an index measure of spinal mobility, based on automated motion capture, validation studies included the following: (1) validity, tested by correlation--Pearson's r--between the UCOASMI and the mobility index Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI), and a measure of structural damage, the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score (mSASSS); (2) reliability, with internal consistency tested by Cronbach's alpha, test-retest by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) after 2 weeks, and error measurement, by variation coefficient (VC) and smallest detectable difference (SDD); and (3) responsiveness, by effect size (ES) in a clinical trial of anti-TNF.

Assessment of spinal mobility in ankylosing spondylitis using a video-based motion capture system.

This paper describes the use of a video-based motion capture system to assess spinal mobility in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The aim of the study is to assess reliability of the system comparing it with conventional metrology in order to define and analyze new measurements that reflect better spinal mobility. A motion capture system (UCOTrack) was used to measure spinal mobility in forty AS patients and twenty healthy subjects with a marker set defining 33 3D measurements, some already being used in conventional metrology.