[German translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the ASAS health index : An ICF-based instrument for documentation of functional ability in patients with ankylosing spondylitis]. / Deutsche Übersetzung und krosskulturelle Adaptation des ASAS-Gesundheitsindex : Ein ICF-basiertes Instrument zur Erfassung der Funktionsfähigkeit von Patienten mit ankylosierender Spondylitis.

Documentation of the severity of the disease in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) can represent a clinical challenge, especially as the course of SpA can be very different. Patients with SpA often complain of symptoms, such as pain, fatigue and stiffness as well as limitations in mental functions and social participation. This wide range of functional impairments could so far only be insufficiently documented and not with one single measurement instrument. Despite various attempts in recent years, experts could not reach agreement on a definition of the severity and documentation of the extent of the severity. This was the starting point for the development of the ASAS health index presented here, which initially focused on patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). This questionnaire serves to document the health and functional ability of patients with AS and has been available since 2015 as the original english version of the ASAS health index together with the accompanying environmental factors set. This article describes the German translation and transcultural adaptation of the ASAS health index and the accompanying environmental factors set.

Assessment of spinal pain.

Spinal pain or back pain is a very common symptom that can have many reasons. The most studied location is low back pain, and it is considered to be nonspecific in the majority of cases. Only a small proportion of patients have axial inflammation as the major cause of their back complaints with chronic inflammatory back pain (IBP) as the most prominent clinical feature of spondyloarthritis (SpA). The recognition of IBP and patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is challenging in primary care, and it is important to further facilitate the early diagnosis of SpA. Proposals for improving the referral of patients with a possible diagnosis of axSpA include clinical parameters, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B27, and imaging parameters. Imaging is crucial for the visualization, objective validation, and understanding of back pain. Numerous diseases such as degenerative disk disease, degenerative changes in the intervertebral (facet) joints and the associated ligaments, spinal instability, herniation of the intervertebral disk, and spinal stenosis have to be differentiated in interpreting imaging of the spine. The sacroiliac joints and the spine are of major importance for the diagnosis and classification of axSpA. Conventional radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the most important imaging technologies for visualization of structural changes such as syndesmophytes and axial inflammation such as sacroiliitis and spondylitis. The pathogenesis of axSpA is largely genetically determined. HLA B27 has the strongest contribution to the total genetic burden, but other major contributors such as endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase (ERAP)-1 and interleukin (IL)-23R have also been identified.

The Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS) handbook: a guide to assess spondyloarthritis.

The field of spondyloarthritis (SpA) has experienced major progress in the last decade, especially with regard to new treatments, earlier diagnosis, imaging technology and a better definition of outcome parameters for clinical trials. In the present work, the Assessment in SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS) provides a comprehensive handbook on the most relevant aspects for the assessments of spondyloarthritis, covering classification criteria, MRI and x rays for sacroiliac joints and the spine, a complete set of all measurements relevant for clinical trials and international recommendations for the management of SpA. The handbook focuses at this time on axial SpA, with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) being the prototype disease, for which recent progress has been faster than in peripheral SpA. The target audience includes rheumatologists, trial methodologists and any doctor and/or medical student interested in SpA. The focus of this handbook is on practicality, with many examples of MRI and x ray images, which will help to standardise not only patient care but also the design of clinical studies.

Assessment of acute spinal inflammation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis by magnetic resonance imaging: a comparison between contrast enhanced T1 and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the performance of two different MRI sequences-T(1) weighted, fat saturated, spin echo after application of contrast medium, and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences-to detect spinal inflammation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). METHODS: Both MRI sequences were performed in 38 patients with active AS and compared using the MRI activity scoring system, ASspiMRI-a. One vertebral unit (VU) was defined as the region between two virtual lines drawn through the middle of each vertebral body. RESULTS: Intraclass correlation coefficients were excellent-0.91 and 0.86 for the Gd-DTPA and STIR sequences, respectively. The overall correlation of the single MRI scores for both sequences was also good (r = 0.84, p = 0.01). The intrarater variance was 6.71 and 9.41 and the interrater variance was 13.16 and 19.04 for the Gd-DTPA and STIR sequences, respectively. The smallest detectable distance was 4.7 and 5.6 for the Gd-DTPA and STIR sequences, respectively. The concordance rate for both sequences was 83.5% (range 80.5-87.7% in the three spinal segments). Inflammatory spinal lesions were found in 10.1% of the VUs in the STIR sequence but not in the T(1)/Gd-DTPA sequence, while the T(1)/Gd-DTPA sequence showed inflammatory lesions in 6.4% of the VUs that were found normal by STIR. CONCLUSIONS: Both MRI techniques can evaluate active spinal lesions in patients with AS. More spinal lesions are detected by the STIR sequence, but the reliability between readings and readers is better for the Gd-DTPA sequence. The ASspiMRI-a is a reliable instrument for evaluating acute spinal changes in AS.