Chest pain without radiographic sacroiliitis in relatives of patients with ankylosing spondylitis.
The prevalence of complaints of thoracic pain or stiffness in the past 6 months was assessed by examination, HLA typing and sacroiliac radiographs in 420 relatives of 275 B27+ probands with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). AS or sacroiliitis was found in 15 of 420 relatives (3.6%). The gender of the proband did not influence the probability of AS or sacroiliitis among the relatives. In the absence of sacroiliitis, B27+ relatives had chest pain more often (31 of 208, or 14.9%) than B27- relatives (13 of 197, or 6.6%) (p less than 0.01). Chest pain assessed by questionnaire was associated with pain on pressure at the costosternal junctions. The concept of AS as a combination of radiographic sacroiliitis plus clinical signs or symptoms may be too narrow.
van der Linden
S M
SM
Department of Rheumatology, University of Berne, Switzerland.
Khan
M A
MA
Rentsch
H U
HU
Gerber
N
N
Cats
A
A
Valkenburg
H A
HA
Tugwell
P X
PX
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001168:Arthritis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D015235:HLA-B Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000150:complications*; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D012446:Sacroiliac Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000235:genetics; D013909:Thorax
D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen