The ASAS Criteria for Axial Spondyloarthritis: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Proposals for a Way Forward

Current Rheumatology Reports

Volumn 17, Issue 9, 2015, Pages

  van der Linden, Sjef ^a   Akkoc, Nurullah ^b   Brown, Matthew A ^c   Robinson, Philip C ^c   Khan, Muhammad A ^d  

^a MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER   (Netherlands)

^b DOKUZ EYLUL UNIVERSITY   (Turkey)

^c UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND   (Australia)

^d METROHEALTH MEDICAL CENTER   (United States)

Author keywords

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS); ASAS classification criteria; Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS); Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA); Spondyloarthritis (SpA)

Indexed keywords

ADALIMUMAB; CALGRANULIN; CD74 ANTIGEN; CERTOLIZUMAB PEGOL; DICKKOPF 1 PROTEIN; ETANERCEPT; GOLIMUMAB; HLA B27 ANTIGEN; INFLIXIMAB; SCLEROSTIN; STROMELYSIN; VASCULOTROPIN; VIMENTIN; ANTIRHEUMATIC AGENT; TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA;

ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS; ASSESSMENT OF SPONDYLOARTHRITIS INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY CRITERIA; AXIAL SPONDYLARTHRITIS; CONSTRUCT VALIDITY; CONTENT VALIDITY; CRITERION RELATED VALIDITY; DISEASE CLASSIFICATION; FACE VALIDITY; FALSE POSITIVE RESULT; GENE; GENETIC VARIABILITY; GENOMICS; HUMAN; MHC GENE; NON MHC GENE; NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; PREDICTIVE VALUE; PROTEOMICS; REVIEW; SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY; SPONDYLARTHRITIS; TREATMENT RESPONSE; ANTAGONISTS AND INHIBITORS; CLASSIFICATION; REPRODUCIBILITY;

ANTIRHEUMATIC AGENTS; HUMANS; MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; REPRODUCIBILITY OF RESULTS; SPONDYLARTHRITIS; TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR-ALPHA;

EID: 84939616664     PISSN: 15233774     EISSN: 15346307     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s11926-015-0535-y     Document Type: Review

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58. Akkoc N, Khan MA. Looking into the New ASAS classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis through the other side of the glass. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2015;17(6):515. doi:10.1007/s11926-015-0515-2. This review addresses the several questions that have been raised regarding the new definition of nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis as part of the axial spondyloarthritis.
59. Robinson PC, Wordsworth BP, Reveille JD, Brown MA. Axial spondyloarthritis: a new disease entity, not necessarily early ankylosing spondylitis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2012;72(2):162--4. An excellent and concise editorial that details the evidence present at that time that axial SpA and ankylosing spondylitis differed in key demographic and genetic factors and that additional research was required to further elucidate the characteristics and natural history of axial SpA.
60. Taylor WJ, Robinson PC. Classification Criteria: peripheral spondyloarthropathy and psoriatic Arthritis. Current Rheumatology Reports. 2013;15(4). In this review article the authors have examined the construct of SpA and the basis for peripheral and axial SpA classification and point out the critical importance of accurate classification criteria to the study of SpA. Moreover, they have argued that this construct is less likely to advance knowledge in the study of psoriatic arthritis, and that the CASPAR criteria remain the best performing classification criteria for this disease.
61. Malaviya AN, Kalyani A, Rawat R, Gogia SB. Comparison of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) from a single rheumatology clinic in New Delhi. Int J Rheum Dis. 2015. doi:10.1111/1756-185X.12579. [Epub ahead of print]. This is another important publication that compared AS with nr-axSpA as classified by the ASAS classification criteria. The authors noted differences that show that these two clinical entities may not be the same disease, and they recommend performing a prospective long-term follow-up of large cohorts for clarifying if nr-axSpA is simply an early stage in the spectrum of SpA evolving into AS over time or is there inherent difference between them.
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