Clinical presentation and subtypes of spondyloarthritis patients in North East India

To describe the clinical profile and subtypes of spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients from a tertiary care center in North-Eastern India. This cross-sectional study was conducted from a tertiary care hospital in Northeast India including 34 patients. Diagnosis of SpA was based on the European Spondyloarthropathy Study group (ESSG) criteria. 34 cases were 26 (76.5%) males and 8 (23.5%) females. The male to female ratio was 3.2:1. The mean age of the patients was 45 ± 20.2 years. 21 (61.8%) belonged to the age group 21–40 years. The mean age at onset was 28.4 ± 11.4 years while the disease duration was 5.4 ± 5.1 years. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) was the most common subtype (n = 19,56%), followed by reactive arthritis (ReA)(n = 5,15%) and undifferentiated (UdSpA)(n = 5,15%). Psoriatic arthritis (PsA)(n = 4,12%) and juvenile SpA (n = 1,3%) made up rest of the cases. The most common articular manifestations were peripheral arthritis (88.2%) followed by low back pain (73.5%) and enthesitis (50%). There was evidence of sacroiliitis in 20 (58.8%) patients of which 19 had AS and 17 (85%) were bilateral. The HLAB27 was done in 14 with AS and one with Juvenile SpA; 10(73.7%) were positive. The commonest SpA encountered was AS with a notable male preponderance among patients. Peripheral arthritis was a common clinical presentation in all subtypes of patients. As diagnosing SpA can be challenging, it is recommended that the physicians have a high index of suspicion. Early diagnosis and knowledge of the pattern of the disease might contribute to more favorable treatment outcomes.