Page 32 - Recognizing axial spondyloarthritis - Janneke de Winter

CHAPTER TWO
Conclusions
Half of the patients classified as axial SpA according to the ASAS criteria also have peripheral disease manifestations such as arthritis, enthesitis, and/or dactylitis. These patients have higher disease activity than patients with purely axial SpA and patients with peripheral SpA. Further research should 1) assess in a longitudinal study if the additional disease burden related to concomitant peripheral disease negatively impacts the long-term outcome in axial SpA, and 2) evaluate whether adaption of the classification criteria and/or systematic monitoring of disease activity using composite indices may lead to better recognition and treatment of peripheral disease in axial SpA.
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank all physicians working in the SpA outpatient clinics during the inclusion of the study. Dominique Baeten was supported by a VIDI grant from The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), by a grant from the Dutch Arthritis Foundation (Reumafonds) and by a grant from the European Research Counsil (ERC).
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