Radiographic vertebral fractures develop in patients with ankylosing spondylitis during 4 years of TNF-α blocking therapy.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and incidence of radiographic vertebral fractures in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients treated with TNF-α blocking therapy for 4 years and to explore the relationship with patient characteristics, clinical assessments, radiographic damage, and bone mineral density (BMD).

Methods: This study included consecutive AS patients with active disease from the Groningen Leeuwarden AS (GLAS) cohort treated with TNF-α blocking therapy for 4 years and with available thoracic and lumbar radiographs at baseline and at 4 years. Vertebral fractures were assessed by two readers (mild: ≥20-<25%, moderate: ≥25-<40%, severe: ≥40% reduction in vertebral height).

Spinal radiographic progression in patients with ankylosing spondylitis treated with TNF-α blocking therapy: a prospective longitudinal observational cohort study.

Objectives: To evaluate spinal radiographic damage over time and to explore the associations of radiographic progression with patient characteristics and clinical assessments including disease activity in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients treated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) blocking therapy in daily clinical practice.

Methods: Consecutive outpatients from the Groningen Leeuwarden AS (GLAS) cohort were included based on the availability of cervical and lumbar radiographs before start of TNF-α blocking therapy and after 2, 4, and/or 6 years of follow-up. Clinical data were assessed at the same time points.