musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders
Overview of Seronegative Spondyloarthropathies
Introduction
Seronegative spondyloarthropathies (seronegative spondyloarthritides) share certain clinical characteristics (eg, inflammatory back pain, uveitis, gastrointestinal symptoms, rashes). Some are strongly associated with the human leukocyte antigen B27 (HLA-B27) allele. Clinical and genetic similarities suggest that they also share similar causes or pathophysiologies. Rheumatoid factor (RF) is usually negative in the spondyloarthropathies (hence, called seronegative spondyloarthropathies). They include Ankylosing Spondylitis , Spondyloarthropathy can develop in association with inflammatory bowel disease (sometimes called enteropathic arthritis) with or without spine involvement. Juvenile-onset spondyloarthropathy is an asymmetric, mostly lower extremity spondyloarthropathy that begins most commonly in boys aged 7 to 16. Spondyloarthropathy can also develop in people without characteristics of other specific spondyloarthropathies (undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy). Treatment of the arthritis of these other spondyloarthropathies is similar to the Treatment . 