Effect of age at disease onset in the clinical profile of spondyloarthritis: a study of 1424 Brazilian patients

OBJECTIVES

To analyse demographic and clinical variables in patients with disease onset before and after 40, 45 and 50 years in a large series of Brazilian SpA patients.

METHODS

A common protocol of investigation was prospectively applied to 1424 SpA patients in 29 centres distributed through the main geographical regions in Brazil. The mean age at disease onset was 28.56 ± 12.34 years, with 259 patients (18.2%) referring disease onset after 40 years, 151 (10.6%) after 45 years and 81 (5.8%) after 50 years. Clinical and demographic variables and disease indices (BASDAI, BASFI, BASRI, MASES, ASQoL) were investigated. Ankylosing spondylitis was the most frequent disease (66.3%), followed by psoriatic arthritis (18%), undifferentiated SpA (6.7%), reactive arthritis (5.5%), and enteropathic arthritis (3.5%).

RESULTS

Comparing the groups according to age of disease onset, those patients with later onset presented statistical association with female gender, peripheral arthritis, dactylitis, nail involvement and psoriasis, as well as negative statistical association with inflammatory low back pain, alternating buttock pain, radiographic sacroiliitis, hip involvement, positive familial history, HLA-B27 and uveitis. BASDAI, BASFI and quality of life, as well as physicians and patient's global assessment, were similar in all the groups. Radiographic indices showed worse results in the younger age groups.

CONCLUSIONS

There are two different clinical patterns in SpA defined by age at disease onset: one with predominance of axial symptoms in the group with disease onset ≤ 40 years and another favouring the peripheral manifestations in those with later disease onset.

Return of esophageal peristalsis in achalasia secondary to gastric cancer

A 69-year-old white man developed progressive symptoms of dysphagia for solids and liquids and regurgitation of undigested food accompanied by a 12-kg weight loss over a 4-month period. Initially, radiographs of the esophagus and stomach were normal, but when repeated 4 months later, a diagnosis of achalasia was suggested. Esophageal manometry performed at that time demonstrated a motor abnormality of the esophagus and lower esophageal sphincter consistent with a diagnosis of achalasia. Upper endoscopy revealed a small ulcerated tumor in the cardia of the stomach. A biopsy specimen was interpreted as adenocarcinoma of the stomach. Surgical treatment included resection of the gastric tumor along with a 4-cm segment of the distal esophagus, resection of a collar of apparently uninvolved stomach, and esophagogastrostomy. Nine months following surgery the patient was restudied. An upper gastrointestinal roentgenogram demonstrated a return of esophageal caliber and configuration to normal. Manometry showed that esophageal contractions had reverted to a normal progressive, postdeglutition pattern throughout the length of the esophagus. This is the first report in which achalasia secondary to gastric adenocarcinoma was reversed after tumor resection.

Enterogastric reflux in normal subjects and patients with Bilroth II gastroenterostomy. Measurement of enterogastric reflux

Initially, scintigraphy was established as a valid method for detecting and quantitating enterogastric reflux. A new, tubeless technique for the measurement of enterogastric reflux was developed. 99mTc bound to [(2,6 dimethylphenylcarbamoylmethyl) iminodiacetic acid] (5 mCi) was administered intravenously to visualize the liver and biliary tract. One hour later, a standard liquid meal labeled with 111In bound to diethylene-triamine penta-acetic acid (250 microCi) was given. The 99mTc and 111In activities were recorded simultaneously for 1-min periods at 15-min intervals for 2 hr over liver, gallbladder, and gastric areas of interest. Enterogastric reflux indices were determined. Ten normal subjects and 13 patients with vagotomy, hemigastrectomy, and Bilroth II gastrojejunostomy were evaluated. The enterogastric reflux index in asymptomatic postsurgical patients was increased significantly to 24.6 +/- 4.7 compared with 8.2 +/- 6.0 (P less than 0.01) in normal subjects. In postsurgical patients with the syndrome of alkaline gastritis, the enterogastric reflux index was increased significantly to 86.3 +/- 7.1 (P less than 0.01) compared with asymptomatic postsurgical patients.