PMID- 17086383
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070816
LR  - 20220716
IS  - 0770-3198 (Print)
IS  - 0770-3198 (Linking)
VI  - 26
IP  - 7
DP  - 2007 Jul
TI  - The effects of sulfasalazine treatment on enthesal abnormalities of inflammatory 
      rheumatic diseases.
PG  - 1104-10
AB  - The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 1-year course of 
      sulfasalazine monotherapy on enthesal abnormalities of inflammatory rheumatic 
      diseases (IRDs) using ultrasonography. Thirty-six patients with IRD including 20 
      patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 16 patients with ankylosing 
      spondylitis (AS) (22 women, 14 men, mean ages 43.3 +/- 8.8 years), and 18 healthy 
      controls (10 women, 8 men, mean ages 42.5 +/- 9.9 years) matched by age and body 
      mass index were enrolled in this study. For the evaluation of enthesal 
      structures, all patients and controls underwent ultrasonographic (USG) 
      examinations of five enthesal sites of both lower limbs using high-resolution and 
      Doppler USG. An ultrasonographic score of lower limb enthesitis was calculated 
      using Glasgow ultrasound enthesitis scoring system (GUESS). Clinical and 
      laboratory activities of IRD patients were also evaluated. Patient group was made 
      to undergo 2 g/day sulfasalazine monotherapy for 1 year. All evaluations were 
      made at the beginning of the treatment and repeated after 1 year follow-up. 
      Results showed that the frequency of enthesal abnormalities of the IRD group was 
      significantly higher than controls. On USG examination, 301/1,296 (23.2%) 
      enthesal structures were abnormal in IRD patients, and 19/648 (2.93%) structures 
      were abnormal in controls. Mean GUESS score of the IRD group (6.40 +/- 2.41) was 
      also significantly higher than controls (1.79 +/- 1.60) (p < 0.001). Although 
      there was a significant improvement in clinical and laboratory activity 
      parameters of the IRD patients, significant decrease was not observed in enthesal 
      abnormalities (295/1,296 enthesal structures-22.7%) and mean GUESS score (6.20 
      +/- 2.38) after 1 year sulfasalazine trial. Additionally, there was no 
      significant improvement in enthesal abnormalities and mean GUESS scores of AS and 
      RA subgroups separately. Sulfasalazine treatment was not found effective on 
      enthesal abnormalities of IRD patients. Further studies with larger groups 
      including other IRDs are required to validate our results.
FAU - Genc, Hakan
AU  - Genc H
AD  - 2nd Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ministry of Health, 
      Ankara Research and Education Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. hakangenc06@hotmail.com
FAU - Duyur Cakit, Burcu
AU  - Duyur Cakit B
FAU - Nacir, Baris
AU  - Nacir B
FAU - Saracoglu, Meryem
AU  - Saracoglu M
FAU - Kacar, Mahmut
AU  - Kacar M
FAU - Erdem, Hatice Rana
AU  - Erdem HR
LA  - eng
PT  - Clinical Trial
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20061104
PL  - Germany
TA  - Clin Rheumatol
JT  - Clinical rheumatology
JID - 8211469
RN  - 0 (Antirheumatic Agents)
RN  - 3XC8GUZ6CB (Sulfasalazine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Antirheumatic Agents/*therapeutic use
MH  - Arthritis, Rheumatoid/complications/diagnosis/*drug therapy
MH  - Disability Evaluation
MH  - Female
MH  - Health Status
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Severity of Illness Index
MH  - Spondylitis, Ankylosing/complications/diagnosis/*drug therapy
MH  - Sulfasalazine/*therapeutic use
MH  - Tendinopathy/diagnostic imaging/*drug therapy/etiology
MH  - Tendons/diagnostic imaging/*pathology
MH  - Treatment Outcome
MH  - Ultrasonography
EDAT- 2006/11/07 09:00
MHDA- 2007/08/19 09:00
CRDT- 2006/11/07 09:00
PHST- 2006/05/25 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2006/09/28 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2006/09/28 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2006/11/07 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/08/19 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2006/11/07 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1007/s10067-006-0460-6 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Clin Rheumatol. 2007 Jul;26(7):1104-10. doi: 10.1007/s10067-006-0460-6. Epub 2006 
      Nov 4.