Imaging of the sacroiliac joints is important for diagnosing early axial spondyloarthritis but not all-decisive

Objectives: To evaluate the contribution of the results of sacroiliac imaging to diagnosis and to the level of confidence in diagnosis in patients presenting with chronic back pain (CBP) and suspected of having axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Methods. Data from 513 patients from the SPondyloArthritisCaughtEarly cohort with CBP (≥3 months, ≤2 years, onset <45 years) were analysed after full diagnostic work-up. Rheumatologists were asked not only to provide a diagnosis before and after the imaging results had been provided to them, but also to provide the level of confidence of this diagnosis on an 11-point numerical scale. Results. Before imaging, 317/513 patients were diagnosed with axSpA. Of these patients, 178/317 (56%) did not have signs of sacroiliitis on either MRI or radiography, which led to the rheumatologist refuting the initial diagnosis of axSpA in 81/178 (46%) patients. Of the 196/513 patients without axSpA before imaging, 35/196 (18%) had signs of sacroiliitis on imaging. Subsequently, 28/35 (80%) patients were diagnosed with axSpA. Overall, imaging was incongruent with the diagnosis before imaging in 213 patients. This led to a change in diagnosis in 109/213 (51%), which corresponds to 21% (109/513) of all patients in the cohort. In general, diagnostic confidence increased by having imaging results available (from 6.2 to 7.4, P<0.001). Conclusion: In patients with CBP suspected of having axSpA, sacroiliac imaging adds to the confidence in the final diagnosis. However, the number of changes in diagnosis suggests that imaging is important but not all-decisive in early axSpA diagnosis

Prevalence of degenerative changes of the spine on magnetic resonance images and radiographs in patients aged 16-45 years with chronic back pain of short duration in the Spondyloarthritis Caught Early (SPACE) cohort

To determine the prevalence of degenerative changes (DCs) in the spine of young patients with back pain without axial spondyloarthritis (no-axSpA), with possible axSpA (poss-axSpA) and with definite axSpA (axSpA), as shown on MRI and radiographs. Whole-spine MRI and cervical and lumbar radiography were performed in patients ≥16 years of age with chronic back pain (≥3 months, ≤2 years, onset <45 years) and potential axSpA (Spondyloarthritis Caught Early cohort). Patients were classified as no-axSpA, poss-axSpA [not fulfilling the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS) axSpA criteria] or axSpA (fulfilling ASAS axSpA criteria). Images (MRI and X-rays) were evaluated on the presence of DCs by two independent readers, blinded to clinical and laboratory information as well as to the results of the other imaging modality. In cases of disagreement, a third reader served as adjudicator. A Chi-square test was used to analyse differences between patient groups according to various selected cut-off points (1-3) of individual DCs. Of 274 patients (38% male, mean age: 29 years), 25 (9%) were classified as no-axSpA, 134 (48.9%) as poss-axSpA and 115 (42.0%) as axSpA. Two hundred and forty-five (89%) patients had DCs on MRI [21/25 (84%) no-axSpA, 121/134 (90%) poss-axSpA, 103/115 (90%) axSpA, P = 0.792], range 1-29 (median 5.5), and 121 (44%) patients had DCs on radiographs [13/25 (52%) no-axSpA, 62/134 (46%) poss-axSpA, 48/115 (42%) axSpA, P = 0.261], range 1-11 (median 2). Prevalence of DCs was similar between patient groups. DCs were predominantly found in the lumbar spine. Prevalence of DCs was high in this cohort of young patients with short-term chronic back pain, in accordance with the literature. Prevalence of DCs in no-axSpA patients, poss-axSpA patients and axSpA patients was found to be simila

Impact of replacing radiographic sacroiliitis by magnetic resonance imaging structural lesions on the classification of patients with axial spondyloarthritis

Objectives. To investigate in patients with chronic back pain of a short duration, the utility of adding structural MRI lesions of the SI joints to the imaging criterion of the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) axial SpA (axSpA) criteria and the utility of replacement of radiographic sacroiliitis by structural MRI lesions. Methods. MRI STIR (inflammation, MRI-SI), MRI T1-weighted images (structural lesions, MRI-SI-s) and radiographs of the SI joints of patients in the SPondyloArthritis Caught Early-cohort (chronic back pain:≤ months, ≤ years; onset <45 years) were scored by two well-calibrated readers. Previously proposed cut-offs for a positive MRI-SI-s were used (based on <5% prevalence in no-SpA patients): erosions ≥3, fatty lesions ≥3, fatty lesions and/or erosions (erosions/fatty lesions)≥5. Using the definitions of MRI-SIs, patients were classified according to the ASAS axSpA criteria. Results. Twenty-nine of 294 patients were modified New York (mNY) positive and 32 were MRI-SI-s positive (erosions/fatty lesions ≥5). Agreement between mNY and MRI-SI-s (erosions/fatty lesions ≥5) was moderate (k: 0.58). Using the erosions/fatty lesions ≥5 cut-off, 3/294 additional patients were classified as axSpA (adding MRI). Using this cut-off instead of mNY (replacing mNY), classification did not change in 286 patients (97.3%), but 5 patients (1.7%) would not be classified as axSpA and 3 previously unclassified patients (1.0%) would be classified as axSpA. Similar results were seen for the other cut-offs (erosions ≥3 and fatty lesions ≥3). Conclusion. Assessment of structural lesions (fatty lesions and erosions) on MRI-SI instead of or in addition to conventional radiographs does not lead to a different ASAS axSpA classification in most of the patients with early disease onset. This suggests that structural lesions (fatty lesions and erosions) can be reliably used in the ASAS axSpA classification of patients, as both addition and replacement of radiographs of the SI joints

Sex differences in the effectiveness of first-line tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in psoriatic arthritis; results from the EuroSpA Research Collaboration Network.

OBJECTIVE Women with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) may have reduced tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) effectiveness compared to men. We examined sex differences in treatment response and retention rates during 24 months of follow-up among patients with PsA initiating their first TNFi. METHODS Data from PsA patients across 13 EuroSpA registries starting their first TNFi were pooled. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between sex and treatment response, using low disease activity (LDA) according to DAS28-CRP (<3.2) at 6 months as the primary outcome. Analyses were adjusted for age, country, csDMARD use, and TNFi start year. Retention rates were explored using the Kaplan-Meier estimators. RESULTS We analyzed the treatment response of 7,679 PsA patients (50% women) with available data on LDA at 6 months. At baseline, women and men had similar characteristics, including mean DAS28-CRP (women vs. men, 4.4 [SD 1.2] vs. 4.2 [1.2]), though patient-reported outcome measures were worse in women. At 6 months, 64% of women and 78% of men had LDA (relative risk, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.80 to 0.84). This difference was similar after adjustment (0.83; 0.81 to 0.85). TNFi retention rates were evaluated in 17,842 PsA patients. Women had significantly lower retention rates than men at all time points (women: 79%/64%/50% at 6/12/24 months versus men: 88%/77%/64%). CONCLUSION Despite comparable disease characteristics at baseline, women with PsA have reduced treatment response and retention rates to their first TNFi, highlighting the need to consider sex differences in PsA research and management