The diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is hampered by diagnostic delay. Computed Tomography (CT) undertaken for non-musculoskeletal (MSK) indications in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) offers an opportunity to identify sacroiliitis for prompt rheumatology referral. The study aims to identify what proportion of IBD patients who underwent abdominopelvic CT for non-MSK indications have axSpA and explore the role of a standardised screening tool to prospectively identify axSpA on imaging.
Abdominopelvic CT scans of verified IBD patients, age range 18-55, performed for non-MSK indications were reviewed by radiology for presence of CT-defined sacroiliitis (CTSI, using criteria from a validated CT screening tool). All patients identified were sent a screening questionnaire and those with self-reported chronic back pain (CBP), duration > 3 months, onset < 45 years were invited for rheumatology review.
CTSI was identified in 60 of 301 patients. Thirty-two (53%) responded to the invitation to participate and 27 were enrolled. Of these, eight had a pre-existing axSpA diagnosis and five did not report CBP. Fourteen patients underwent rheumatology assessment; three of 14 (21.4% [95% CI: 4.7%, 50.8%]) had undiagnosed axSpA. In total, 11 of 27 (40.7% [95% CI: 22.4%, 61.2%]) patients had a rheumatologist verified diagnosis of axSpA.
At least 5.0% of IBD patients (3/60) undergoing abdominopelvic CT for non-MSK indications with CTSI have undiagnosed axSpA, and overall, 18.3% (11/60) have axSpA. This reveals a significant hidden population of axSpA and highlights the need for a streamlined pathway from sacroiliitis detection to rheumatology referral.
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To elucidate the prevalence of undiagnosed rheumatologist-verified diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis (RVD-axSpA) in patients attending routine secondary care IBD clinics with chronic back pain.
Screening questionnaires were sent to consecutive patients attending IBD clinics in a university teaching hospital. Patients fulling the eligibility criteria (gastroenterologist-verified diagnosis, 18–80 years old, biologic therapy naïve, no previous diagnosis of axSpA); and a moderate diagnostic probability of axSpA (self-reported chronic back pain [CBP] > 3 months, onset < 45 years) were invited for rheumatology assessment. This included medical review, physical examination, patient reported outcome measures, human leucocyte antigen B27, C-reactive protein, pelvic radiograph and axSpA protocol magnetic resonance imaging. A diagnosis of RVD-axSpA was made by a panel of rheumatologists.
Of the 470 patients approached, 91 had self-reported CBP > 3 months, onset < 45 years, of whom 82 were eligible for clinical assessment. The prevalence of undiagnosed RVD-axSpA in patients attending IBD clinics in a secondary care setting, with self-reported CBP, onset < 45 years is estimated at 5% (95% CI 1.3,12.0) with a mean symptom duration of 12 (S.D. 12.4) years.
There is a significant hidden disease burden of axSpA among IBD patients. Appropriate identification and referral from gastroenterology is needed to potentially shorten the delay to diagnosis and allow access to appropriate therapy.
The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to give a systematic overview of the prevalence and incidence of SpA in patients with IBD. A total of 71 studies were included, reporting on the prevalence of sacroiliitis, ankylosing spondylitis, arthritis, enthesitis, and dactylitis. Pooled prevalences were calculated. SpA was found to occur in up to 13% of patients with IBD. Ankylosing spondylitis was the least common (3%) followed by sacroiliitis (10%) and peripheral arthritis (13%). Few estimates were available for enthesitis (prevalence range from 1% to 54%) and dactylitis (prevalence range from 0% to 6%).
Another recent systematic review investigated the prevalence of axial SpA, including previously undiagnosed cases, in IBD patients from studies involving cross-sectional imaging. They then also identified the IBD features potentially associated with axial SpA. A total of 20 observational studies were identified. The prevalence of sacroiliitis, the most commonly reported axial SpA feature, ranged from 2.2% to 68.0% with a pooled prevalence of 21.0% (95% confidence interval 17–26%). Associated IBD-axial SpA features include increasing IBD duration, increasing age, male sex, IBD location, inflammatory back pain and peripheral arthritis. No significant difference in the prevalence of sacroiliitis between Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis was identified. This work has informed a prospective observational study of magnetic resonance enterography as a screening tool for axial SpA, initiated in March 2019 (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03817983) https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03817983.
Objective: To determine the SpA prevalence and identify its associated factors in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients receiving a systematically rheumatological and imaging assessment, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the sacroiliac joints and spine.
Results: A total of 103 patients with CD were included in the cohort. The mean CD disease duration was 1.3 ± 2.4 years and 95.1% were naïve to biologics. The most frequent musculoskeletal manifestation was back pain (65.0%), followed by chronic back pain (50.5%), and arthralgia (43.7%). Prevalence of SpA was 19.4% with slightly higher proportion of axial SpA than peripheral SpA, and higher proportion of radiographic axial SpA (7.4%) than non-radiographic axial SpA (2.8%). Changes in MRI compatible with axial SpA were found in 15 (14.7%) patients, of which 9 (81.1%) patients had the clinical diagnosis of axial SpA. HLA-B27 positivity (OR 9.02, CI 95% 2.29–35.55) and higher disease activity of CD as reflected by the HBI (OR 1.14, 95%CI 1.01–1.30) were significant and independently associated with the presence of SpA.
Conclusion: SpA was present in nearly one out of five patients with CD and it was associated with the expression of HLA-B27 and a higher clinical activity of CD. Our findings raise awareness to rheumatologists and gastroenterologists on the high concomitance between both diseases and may help to reduce the delay in SpA diagnosis.
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