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ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting 2012: Spondylarthritis Criteria Changing Landscape of the Disease

  |  Issue: December 2012  |  

Patients on TNF blockers should be assessed after at least 12 weeks of treatment. Discontinuation should be considered if there is not a BASDAI improvement of 50% or more or an absolute improvement of two units on the BASDAI, plus a positive expert opinion. “All the TNF blockers seem to be similarly efficacious for musculoskeletal manifestations,” Dr. van der Heijde said. “[It is] only if you have extraarticular manifestations such as IBD [inflammatory bowel disease] that it’s important to select your TNF blocker.”

Thomas Collins is a freelance medical writer based in Florida.

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References

  1. Rudwaleit M, van der Heijde D, Landewé R, et al. The development of Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis (part II): Validation and final selection. Ann Rheum Dis. 2009;68:777-783.
  2. Rudwaleit M, van der Heijde D, Landewé R, et al. The Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society classification criteria for peripheral spondyloarthritis and for spondyloarthritis in general. Ann Rheum Dis. 2011;70:25-31.
  3. Braun J, van den Berg R, Baraliakos X, et al. 2010 update of the ASAS/EULAR recommendations for the management of ankylosing spondylitis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2011;70:896-904.
  4. Zochling J, Bohl-Bühler MH, Baraliakos X, Feldtkeller E, Braun J. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use in ankylosing spondylitis—a population-based survey. Clin Rheumatol. 2006;25:794-800.
  5. Wanders A, Heijde D, Landewé R, et al. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs reduce radiographic progression in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: A randomized clinical trial. Arthritis Rheum. 2005;52:1756-1765.
  6. Kroon F, Landewé R, Dougados M, van der Heijde D. Continuous NSAID use reverts the effects of inflammation on radiographic progression in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2012;71:1623-1629.
  7. Poddubnyy D, Rudwaleit M, Haibel H, et al. Effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on radiographic spinal progression in patients with axial spondyloarthritis: Results from the German Spondyloarthritis Inception Cohort. Ann Rheum Dis. 2012;71:1616-1622.
  8. van der Heijde D, Sieper J, Maksymowych WP, et al. 2010 Update of the international ASAS recommendations for the use of anti-TNF agents in patients with axial spondyloarthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2011;70:905-908.

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