Maximal Exercise Tolerance, Objective Trunk Strength, and Mobility Measurements in Axial Spondyloarthritis.

Objective: Although exercise therapy is safe, effective, and recommended as a nonpharmacological treatment for axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), there is a lack of guidelines regarding type and dosage. Insufficient knowledge about physical and physiological variables makes designing effective exercise programs challenging. Therefore, the goal of this study was to simultaneously assess trunk strength, spinal mobility, and the cardiorespiratory fitness of patients with axSpA.

Association of anatomical variants of the sacroiliac joint with bone marrow edema in patients with axial spondyloarthritis.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of sacroiliac joint variants in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) using MRI-based synthetic CT images and to evaluate their relationships with the presence of bone marrow edema, as this may potentially complicate diagnosing active sacroiliitis on MRI in patients with suspected axSpA.

Methods: 172 patients were retrospectively included. All patients underwent MRI because of clinical suspicion of sacroiliitis.

Progressive sensory ataxia and breast implant rupture, an uncommon presentation of a debated concept: a case report.

Background: Autoimmune Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA) is a concept introduced by Shoenfeld to group various disease entities believed to be triggered by an infection, silicone exposure or other external stimuli. A causal link between the use of silicone and the development of autoimmune diseases and lymphoma has been suggested in the past. Sjögren's Syndrome (SS) is one of the autoimmune diseases that has been postulated as an example of ASIA syndrome.

The Impact of Vedolizumab and Ustekinumab on Articular Extra-Intestinal Manifestations in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients: A Real-Life Multicentre Cohort Study.

Background And Aims: Extra-intestinal manifestations are frequently reported in inflammatory bowel diseases. However, data comparing the effect of vedolizumab and ustekinumab on articular extra-intestinal manifestations are limited. The aim here was to evaluate differences in new-onset and the evolution of pre-existing joint extra-intestinal manifestations during both treatments.

Peripheral manifestations are major determinants of disease phenotype and outcome in new onset spondyloarthritis.

Objectives: To delineate the impact of peripheral musculoskeletal manifestations on stratification of disease phenotype and outcome in new-onset spondyloarthritis (SpA), using a prospective observational nationwide inception cohort, the BelGian Inflammatory Arthritis and spoNdylitis cohorT (Be-Giant).

Methods: Newly diagnosed adult SpA patients, fulfilling the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) criteria for axial or peripheral SpA, were included in Be-Giant and prospectively followed every six months. Peripheral involvement (defined as arthritis, enthesitis and/or dactylitis) was determined in relation to clinically similar patient subsets at baseline and disease activity patterns during two-year follow-up, identified through K-means cluster analysis and latent class growth analysis.

High prevalence of spondyloarthritis-like MRI lesions in postpartum women: a prospective analysis in relation to maternal, child and birth characteristics.

Objectives: Bone marrow oedema (BMO) on MRI of sacroiliac joints (SIJs) represents a hallmark of axial spondyloarthritis (SpA), yet such lesions may also occur under augmented mechanical stress in healthy subjects. We therefore sought to delineate the relationship between pregnancy/delivery and pelvic stress through a prospective study with repeated MRI. Results were matched with maternal, child and birth characteristics.

Expert consensus: practical algorithms for management of inflammatory bowel disease patients presenting with back pain or peripheral arthropathies.

Background: Spondyloarthritis is the most frequent extra-intestinal manifestation of IBD.

Aim: To present simple strategies to identify and differentiate inflammatory joint pain in IBD patients.

Methods: A panel of Belgian gastroenterologists and rheumatologists developed seven algorithms for IBD patients with joint symptoms based on a Delphi exercise conducted between April and December 2016.

RORγt inhibition selectively targets IL-17 producing iNKT and γδ-T cells enriched in Spondyloarthritis patients.

Dysregulated IL-23/IL-17 responses have been linked to psoriatic arthritis and other forms of spondyloarthritides (SpA). RORγt, the key Thelper17 (Th17) cell transcriptional regulator, is also expressed by subsets of innate-like T cells, including invariant natural killer T (iNKT) and γδ-T cells, but their contribution to SpA is still unclear. Here we describe the presence of particular RORγtT-betPLZF iNKT and γδ-hi T cell subsets in healthy peripheral blood.

High Rate of Drug-Free Remission After Induction Therapy With Golimumab in Early Peripheral Spondyloarthritis.

Objective: New treatment algorithms using tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers in early stages of spondyloarthritis (SpA) induce high rates of clinical remission or low disease activity. It could be anticipated that such early intervention strategies in peripheral SpA may induce drug-free remission. We undertook this study to evaluate drug-free clinical remission after induction therapy with golimumab in patients with very early active peripheral SpA, and to identify patient characteristics that predict sustained drug-free remission.

Association of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Acute Anterior Uveitis, but Not Psoriasis, With Disease Duration in Patients With Axial Spondyloarthritis: Results From Two Belgian Nationwide Axial Spondyloarthritis Cohorts.

Objective: To determine the link between extraarticular manifestations (EAMs) and baseline characteristics in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (SpA), and to define their potentially differential prognostic value in 2 large, independent Belgian axial SpA cohorts with distinct recruitment periods.

Methods: Information on demographic and clinical characteristics and extraarticular manifestations (EAMs) was obtained from patients with axial SpA originating from the (Be)Giant (Belgian Inflammatory Arthritis and Spondylitis) cohort, which includes consecutive axial SpA patients whose data have been collected since 2010, and from the ASPECT (Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients Epidemiological Cross-sectional Trial) cohort, a Belgian registry of cross-sectional data collected between February 2004 and February 2005 from consecutive patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) or probable AS.

Results: Among the 1,250 Belgian patients studied, disease duration was associated with risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with an increase in risk by 20% per 10 years of disease duration (relative risk [RR] 1.

Effect of mechanical stress on magnetic resonance imaging of the sacroiliac joints: assessment of military recruits by magnetic resonance imaging study.

Objective: To assess the baseline condition of the SI joints (SIJs) in healthy individuals without symptoms of back pain and to study the effect of mechanical stress caused by intense physical training on MRI of the SIJs.

Methods: Twenty-two military recruits underwent an MRI of the SIJs before and after 6 weeks of intense standardized physical training. Bone marrow oedema and structural lesions were scored based on the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) method, by three trained readers blinded for time sequence and clinical findings.

ASAS definition for sacroiliitis on MRI in SpA: applicable to children?

Background: The Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS) definition for a 'positive' Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for sacroiliitis is well studied and validated in adults, but studies about the value of this definition in children are lacking. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the adult ASAS definition of a positive MRI of the sacroiliac joints can be applied to children with a clinical suspicion of Juvenile Spondyloarthritis (JSpA).

Methods: Two pediatric musculoskeletal radiologists blinded to clinical data independently retrospectively reviewed sacroiliac (SI) joint MRI in 109 children suspected of sacroiliitis.

Anti-TNF-induced remission in very early peripheral spondyloarthritis: the CRESPA study.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of golimumab to induce clinical remission in patients with very early, active peripheral spondyloarthritis (pSpA).

Methods: Clinical REmission in peripheral SPondyloArthritis is a monocentric study of golimumab treatment in patients with pSpA. All patients fulfilled the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society classification criteria for pSpA, with a symptom duration ≤12 weeks.

Scintigraphic detection of TNF-driven inflammation by radiolabelled certolizumab pegol in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis.

Background: Biologicals are the cornerstone for many treatment algorithms in inflammatory arthritis. While tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors may achieve important responses in ∼50% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA), a significant fraction of patients are partial or non-responders. We hypothesised that in vivo assessment of TNF by scintigraphy with 99mTc-radiolabelled certolizumab pegol (CZP) might lead to a more 'evidence-based biological therapy'.

Brief Report: Dialister as a Microbial Marker of Disease Activity in Spondyloarthritis.

Objective: Dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota has been widely established in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). There is significant clinical and genetic overlap between spondyloarthritis (SpA) and IBD, and up to 50% of all patients with SpA exhibit microscopic signs of bowel inflammation, often bearing particular resemblance to early Crohn's disease, a subtype of IBD. This study was undertaken to assess the relationship between intestinal microbial composition, gut histology, and disease activity markers in SpA.

Relevance of the gut/joint axis for the management of spondyloarthritis in daily clinical practice.

Purpose Of Review: Thirty years ago, the concept of microscopic gut inflammation in spondyloarthritis (SpA) was established. Over the past decade, there has been tremendous progress in the earlier diagnosis of SpA. In addition, it has been suggested that, because of improved hygiene over the past years, exposure to microorganisms has changed, leading to a shift in diseases, for example, a decreased incidence of reactive arthritis.