Rheumatologists Make Progress Defining Spectrum of Axial Spondyloarthritis

Lastly, although the ASAS classification criteria have helped identify patients with axial inflammatory arthritis who do not fulfill the 30-year-old Modified New York Criteria for Ankylosing Spondylitis, the discussions at the FDA advisory committee and the subsequent FDA decision has raised serious questions about their use in clinical practice. Have these criteria inadvertently hurt the cause of early treatment? Now, the biggest unmet need in this field is how we are going to manage the so-called nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis patients. One of the tasks ahead would be to consider redefining ankylosing spondylitis by not just the sacroiliitis on radiographs, but also by using modern imaging techniques.

Atul Deodhar, MD, is professor of medicine in the Division of Arthritis & Rheumatic Diseases (OP09) at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

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