Achievement of clinical-laboratory and ASAS-partial remission in patients with early axial spondyloarthritis according to the ESAC cohort at the 3rd year of follow-up

Abstract

According to the treat-to-target strategy for spondyloarthritis (SpA), the main goal is to achieve clinical remission or inactive disease. In 2001, the Assessment of Spondyloarhtritis International Society (ASAS) formulated the ASAS criteria for partial remission, and the Russian expert group for the study of SpA identified clinical-laboratory remission (no clinical manifestations of the disease that persists for 6 months in the presence of normal values of C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) remission and complete remission (a combination of clinical-laboratory and MRI remission). To determine the frequency of achieving clinical-laboratory and ASAS partial remission in patients with early axial SpA (axSpA) at the 3rd year of follow-up. The study included patients from the ESAC cohort (Early SpondyloArthritis Cohort), formed at the Nasonova Research Institute of Rheumatology (Moscow). Currently, the cohort includes 175 patients with axSpA. The analysis included 66 patients followed for at least 3 years, of which 37 (56%) were men and 29 (44%) were women. The average age of the patients was 31.5 (5.7) years, the average duration of the disease was 22.1 (17.0) months, 63 (95.4%) patients had HLA-B27 antigen. Clinical-laboratory remission was achieved by 21 (31.8%) patients with early axSpA at the 3rd year of follow-up, ASAS partial remission by 29 (44.0%) patients. In the 3rd year of follow-up of patients with early axSpA, 32% of patients achieved clinical-laboratory remission, and 44% of patients achieved ASAS partial remission. More than 40% of patients with early axial spondyloarthritis achieve remission while taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.