Clinical and spinal radiographic outcome in axial spondyloarthritis: Results from the GLAS cohort

The Groningen Leeuwarden Axial Spondyloarthritis (GLAS) cohort is an ongoing, prospective, longitudinal, observational cohort study collecting data from axial SpA patients. This cohort is embedded in daily clinical practice of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and the Medical Center Leeuwarden (MCL), The Netherlands. Axial SpA patients in this cohort are treated and monitored according to the latest (inter)national guidelines. The overall objective of the GLAS cohort is to combine up-to-date clinical care with clinical and translational research to gain more knowledge about the long-term course of axial SpA.

In this thesis, clinical and radiographic data from the GLAS cohort were analyzed. The key findings were: 1) small reduction in spinal radiographic progression during long-term treatment with TNF-α inhibitors, 2) frequent involvement of cervical facet joints, 3) relatively high prevalence and incidence of radiographic vertebral fractures, 4) identification of risk factors (e.g. smoking and obesity) for high disease activity and poor disease outcome, 5) gender differences in patient-reported outcome measures, and 6) a new, disease-specific questionnaire to assess daily physical activity in axial SpA.