THU0377 Are Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis Really Different from Non-Radiographic Axial SPA: Results from Corrona Psoriatic Arthritis/spondyloarthritis Registry
Authors: P.J. Mease, C. Karki, J.B. Palmer, M. Liu, R. Pandurengan, V. Herrera, J.D. Greenberg
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2016)

<h3>Background</h3> Only a few european studies have shown that most of the clinical features and assessments of axial spondyloarthritis (ax-SpA) are similar in patients with/without radiographic changes<sup>1</sup>. However, some differences might be observed which might be prognostic factors of more severe disease. <h3>Objectives</h3> To describe the demographic, clinical, patient reported outcomes (PROs) and treatment characteristics of ax-SpA population in the Corrona registry, a large national cohort of psoriatic arthritis (PsA)/SpA patients in the US. <h3>Methods</h3> The study included ax-SpA patients enrolled in the registry between 3/2013–7/2015. Ax-SpA population was further stratified into two cohorts: ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic Axial SpA (nr-axSpA) based on the NY modified criteria for AS (1984) and ASAS criteria for ax-SpA without sacroiliac radiographic changes respectively. Descriptive analyses on patient characteristics (demographics, clinical, patient reported outcomes and treatment) were evaluated at enrollment into the registry. Chi-square and t-tests were used for continuous and categorical variables respectively to evaluate the differences. <h3>Results</h3> Of the 407 patients identified with ax-SpA, 310 were diagnosed with AS and 97 with nr-axSpA. Patients with AS were slightly older (mean: 49yrs vs 44 yrs) and mostly males (65% vs 57%) compared to patients with nr-axSpA respectively. Both cohorts had similar functional disability measured by health assessment questionnaire, HAQ (mean: 0.6 vs 0.6), quality of life measured by EQ-5D (mean: 0.7 vs 0.7) and mean percentage of overall activity impairment measured by WPAI (26.8% vs 31.6%). About 7.6% of AS patients had fibromyalgia compared to 9.7% of nr-axSpA (p-value: 0.5). While clinical features (BASDAI, BASFI, ASDAS) did not differ between the AS and nr-axSpA patients, signs of inflammation measured by acute phase reactants were significantly higher in patients with AS compared to nr-axSpA (mean ESR: 14.4 vs 8.9 respectively, p&lt;0.05) (figure 1), which are consistent with other national cohorts (1). In addition, patients with nr-axSpA were more likely to have enthesitis (47.4% vs. 29.0%) and dactylitis (12.4% vs. 9.0%) respectively. Although there were some differences in the history of biologic use (65% and 74% resp.), current biologic use (61.3% and 63.9%) and use of prednisone (5.5% and 6.2%) was similar in both groups. <h3>Conclusions</h3> This is the first characterization of axial SpA patients from the US Corrona registry with stratification into ankylosing spondylitis and non-radiographic axial SpA. Patients with nr-axSpA were younger and more likely to be female compared to patients with AS. Both groups had similar clinical characteristics, quality of life, disability and work impairment. <h3>References</h3> Rudwaleit et al.2009. Arthritis and Rheumatism, Vol. 60, No. 3, March 2009, pp 717–727 <h3>Acknowledgement</h3> The design, study conduct, and financial support for this analysis was provided by Novartis. Corrona LLC: In the last two years, AbbVie, Amgen, BMS, Crescendo, Genentech, Horizon Pharma USA, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB have supported Corrona LLC through contracted subscriptions. <h3>Disclosure of Interest</h3> P. Mease Grant/research support from: Celgene, Novartis, Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Janssen, Lilly, Pfizer, UCB;, Consultant for: Celgene, Corrona, Merck, Novartis, Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Crescendo, Genentech, Janssen, Lilly, Merck, Pfizer, UCB;, Speakers bureau: Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Crescendo, Genentech, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, C. Karki Employee of: Corrona, LLC, J. Palmer Employee of: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, M. Liu Employee of: Corrona, LLC, R. Pandurengan Employee of: Corrona, LLC, V. Herrera Employee of: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, J. Greenberg Shareholder of: Corrona, LLC, Consultant for: AstraZeneca, Celgene, Genentech, Janssen, Novartis and Pfizer, Employee of: Corrona, LLC