Assessment of enthesopathy in conventional pelvis radiography: Another tool for spondyloarthritis diagnosis beyond sacroiliitis.

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVES: Enthesitis is a cardinal feature of spondylarthritis (SpA), and the pelvis is a common site of enthesitis. This study aimed to establish the association between pelvic enthesis involvement on pelvic X-ray and SpA diagnosis through a radiographic enthesis index (REI) and to assess the reliability and accuracy of this REI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The participants were SpA patients and a control group composed of patients with chronic lumbar pain without SpA. Three blinded observers assessed each pelvic radiography three times. Three zones were used: Zone I (ZI), the iliopubic ramus; Zone II (ZII), the pubic symphysis, and Zone III (ZIII), the ischiopubic ramus. A grading system was created from 0 to 3 [Grade 0, normal; Grade 1, minimal changes (subcortical bone demineralization and/or periosteal wishkering, seen as radiolucency and trabeculation of the cortical bone upon tendon insertion); Grade 2, destructive changes (Grade 1 findings and erosions at the enthesis site); and Grade 3, findings of Grade 2 plus >2 mm whiskering out of the cortical bone) for the REI. The sum of the results of the three zones was called the total REI. For statistical analysis, we used the weighted kappa statistic adjusted for prevalence and bias using Gwet's agreement coefficient. RESULTS: We enrolled 161 patients, 111 of them with SpA (39.6 % with axial SpA and 47.7 % with peripheral SpA) and 50 without SpA. In the SpA group, 36.7 % and 25.7 % had REI Grades 2 and 3 in ZIII, respectively, while only 6 % of the controls had these grades. For ZI, the frequency of Grades 1 to 3 was 42.3 % in the SpA group (8.1 %, 14.4 %, and 19.8 %, respectively), compared to only 2 % in the controls. ZII was unaffected in most of the patients with SpA (82.9 %) and in the controls (98 %). In the control group, Grade 0 was the most common REI grade in all three zones. The agreement was almost perfect for each zone and between the independent readers. The ROC-curve analysis showed that the highest performance areas were the total REI, ZIII, and ZI. Most (75 %) of the SpA patients without sacroiliitis on X-ray were REI-positive. The sensitivity of the REI for SpA diagnosis was 82 %, while the sensitivity of sacroiliitis on X-ray was 38.7 %. CONCLUSIONS: The assessment of pelvic enthesis using the REI on pelvic radiography may be useful for SpA diagnosis. Total REI, ZIII, and ZI had the highest accuracy and almost perfect reliability. The REI is especially helpful in patients without sacroiliitis on imaging.

Association of anti-Ro52, anti-Ro60 and anti-La antibodies with diagnostic, clinical and laboratory features in a referral hospital in Jerez, Spain / Asociación de los anticuerpos anti-Ro52, anti-Ro60 y anti-La con las características diagnósticas, clínicas y de laboratorio en un hospital de referencia en Jerez, España

Objective. Several antibodies have proven to be useful in autoimmune diseases, as markers for diagnosis, prognosis or clinical manifestations. Our objective was to evaluate the diagnosis and manifestations associated for antibodies anti-Ro52, anti-Ro60 and anti-La at a referral hospital in Spain. Methods. We retrospectively analyzed the antigenic specificities of the consecutive samples submitted to the Immunology Unit for antinuclear antibody screening between 2002 and 2012. We included patients with more than one positive sample for some of the autoantibodies anti-Ro52, anti-Ro60 or anti-La. We also reviewed diagnosis, clinical and laboratory features. As dependent variable we evaluated possible combinations of anti-Ro52, anti-Ro60 and anti-La. Results. 322 patients, 91% females, were studied (age 44.3±15.51 years). The most frequent diagnosis was Sjögren's syndrome (40.06%) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (36.6%). The most prevalent pattern by indirect immunofluorescence was the fine speckled (69.9%). Anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60+/anti-La+ combination was positively associated with fine speckled pattern (p: 0.001) and negatively with homogeneous (p: 0.016) and cytoplasmic pattern (p: 0.002). Isolated anti-Ro52+ was negatively associated with fine speckled pattern (p<0.001) and positively with the cytoplasmic one (p<0.001). The main positive associations with clinical symptoms were xerostomia and xerophthalmia with anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60+/anti-La+ (p<0.001), oral ulcers with anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60+/anti-La− (p: 0.002) and alopecia with anti-Ro52−/anti-Ro60+/anti-La− (p: 0.003). Negative associations were xerophthalmia and photosensitivity with anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60−/anti-La− (p: 0.003). Laboratory positive associations were hypergammaglobulinemia with anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60+/anti-La+ (p: 0.003), and hypocomplementemia with anti-Ro52−/anti-Ro60+/anti-La− (p: 0.003). Leucopenia was negatively associated with anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60−/anti-La− (p: 0.003). Conclusion. Our study found significant relationships between clinical and laboratory manifestations with different patterns of antibodies to anti-Ro52, anti-Ro60 and anti-La. The combination of antibodies might be clinically useful due to prognostic and therapeutic implications (AU)

Objetivo. Varios anticuerpos han demostrado ser útiles en enfermedades autoinmunes, como marcadores de diagnóstico, pronóstico o manifestaciones clínicas. Nuestro objetivo fue evaluar el diagnóstico y las manifestaciones asociadas a anticuerpos anti-Ro52, anti-Ro60 y anti-La en un hospital de referencia en España. Métodos. Se analizaron retrospectivamente las especificidades antigénicas de todas las muestras consecutivas solicitadas a la Unidad de Inmunología para la detección de anticuerpos antinucleares entre 2002 y 2012. Se incluyeron pacientes con más de una muestra positiva para algunos de los autoanticuerpos anti-Ro52, anti-Ro60 o anti-La, y se revisaron sus características diagnósticas, clínicas y de laboratorio. Como variable dependiente se evaluaron las combinaciones de anti-Ro52, anti-Ro60 y anti-La. Resultados. 322 pacientes, 91% mujeres, fueron estudiados (edad 44.3±15.51 años). El diagnóstico más frecuente fue el síndrome de Sjögren (40.06%), y el lupus eritematoso sistémico (LES) (36.6%). El patrón por inmunofluorescencia indirecta más prevalente fue el moteado fino (69.9%). La combinación Anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60+/anti-La+ se asoció positivamente con el patrón moteado fino (p: 0.001) y negativamente con el homogéneo (p: 0.016) y el citoplasmático (p: 0.002). Anti-Ro52+ aislado se asoció negativamente con el patrón moteado fino (p<0.001) y positivamente con el citoplasmático (p<0.001). La principal asociación con síntomas clínicos fue de xerostomía y xeroftalmia con anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60+/anti-La+ (p<0.001), úlceras orales con anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60+/anti-La− (p: 0.002) y alopecia con anti-Ro52−/anti-Ro60+/anti-La−. Asociaciones negativas fueron xeroftalmia y fotosensibilidad con anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60−/anti-La− (p: 0.003). Asociaciones positivas de laboratorio fueron hipergammaglobulinemia con anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60+/anti-La+ (p: 0.003) e hipocomplementemia con anti-Ro52−/anti-Ro60+/anti-La− (p: 0.003). Leucopenia se asoció negativamente con anti-Ro52+/anti-Ro60−/anti-La− (p: 0.003). Conclusión. Nuestro estudio encontró una relación significativa entre las manifestaciones clínicas y de laboratorio con diferentes patrones de anticuerpos anti-Ro52, anti-Ro60 y anti-La. La combinación de anticuerpos podría ser clínicamente útil, debido a implicaciones pronósticas y terapéuticas (AU)