The early diagnosis of spondyloarthritis

The most frequent early symptoms of spondyloarthritides are inflammatory back pain and asymetric peripheral arthritis. Currently the mean delay between the onset of first symptoms and diagnosing ankylosing spondylitis which is the frequent type of spondyloarthritis is over 5 years. The availability of effective therapies makes an early diagnosis mandatory. The clinical symptoms of inflammatory back pain, active inflamation on MR, and positivity for HLA-B27 are the most important parameters for an early diagnosis of spondyloarthritis, especially in combination. Moreover, the combination of clinical and laboratory parameters is necessary for the early diagnosis.