• Young-Ok Jung, Inje Kim, Suho Kim, Chang-Hee Suh, Han Jung Park, Won Park, Seoung Ryul Kwon, Jae Cheon Jeong, Yun Jong Lee, Hee Jung Ryu, Young Bae Park, Jisoo Lee, You-Hyun Lee, Young Il Seo, Won Tae Chung, Seung-Jae Hong, Yeon-Sik Hong, Han Joo Baek, Hyo Jin Choi, Hyo-Jong Kang, Chan-Hee Lee, Sang-Hyon Kim, and Hyun Ah Kim.
• Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2010 Apr 1; 25 (4): 532535532-5.

AbstractThe objective of this study was to investigate clinical and radiographic features and gender differences in Korean patients with adult-onset ankylosing spondylitis. Multicenter cross-sectional studies were conducted in the rheumatology clinics of 13 Korean tertiary referral hospitals. All patients had a confirmed diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis according to the modified New York criteria. Clinical, laboratory, and radiographic features were evaluated and disease activities were assessed using the Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index. Five hundred and five patients were recruited. The male to female ratio was 6.1:1. Average age at symptom onset was 25.4+/-8.9 yr and average disease duration was 9.6+/-6.8 yr. Males manifested symptoms at a significantly earlier age. HLA-B27 was more frequently positive in males. Hips were more commonly affected in males, and knees in females. When spinal mobility was measured using tragus-to-wall distance and the modified Schober's test, females had significantly better results. Radiographic spinal changes, including bamboo spine and syndesmophytes, were more common in males after adjustment of confounding factors. In conclusion, we observed significant gender differences in radiographic spinal involvement as well as other clinical manifestations among Korea patients with adult-onset ankylosing spondylitis. These findings may influence the timing of the diagnosis and the choice of treatment.

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