Spondyloarthritis; clinical manifestations and evaluation of response to treatment in Iran

Introduction: Spondyloarthropathies (SpAs) are inflammatory diseases with symptoms such as spinal pain, sacroiliac, and peripheral involvement. The prevalence of SpAs is reported from 0.2% to 1.6%. SpAs can cause significant disabilities for patients. Its medical treatment is mainly with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) and anti-TNF drugs. Objectives: The primary purpose of this study is to carefully detect the clinical manifestations of patients, demographic characteristics, and the effectiveness of common medications in this disease. Patients and Methods: The present study is a retrospective descriptive study. The statistical population is 101 patients with SpA who have demographic information and items related to clinical conditions, radiographic findings and response to treatment. Results: One hundred one patients with SpA [46 (45.5%) female] with the age of 36.83± 10.45 years were studied. Around 66 patients (64.7%) had ankylosing spondylitis (AS), with the highest prevalence of AS. The most common clinical symptoms in patients were axial and peripheral/ extra-articular symptoms. The response to patients’ treatment were 61 patients (60.4%) had responded to the first stage of treatment, since only one patient needed to change the treatment steps in five times. Conclusion: We found, most patients with SpA were young patients. The most common radiological finding was Sacroiliitis. The most common clinical finding was extra-articular manifestations. Peripheral manifestations of the disease in women and axial images in men were common. The highest response to treatment was observed with the combination of indomethacin, sulfasalazine (SSZ) and indomethacin (alone).