Spondyloarthropathy

"SpA" redirects here. For the Italian type of company see S.A. (corporation).

Additional recommended knowledge

Safe Weighing Range Ensures Accurate Results

Guide to balance cleaning: 8 simple steps

Essential Laboratory Skills Guide

Spondyloarthropathies are a group of related inflammatory joint diseases associated with the MHC class I molecule HLA-B27. The term seronegative spondylarthropathy is used by medical practitioners because this set of conditions may mimic rheumatoid diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, but serological (blood) tests are typically negative for rheumatoid factor (RhF).

Subgroups (with increased HLA-B27 frequency) are:

• ankylosing spondylitis Caucasians (AS, 92%),
• ankylosing spondylitis African-Americans (AS, 50%),
• reactive arthritis (Reiter's syndrome) (RS, 60-80%),
• enteropathic arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, 60%),
• Psoriatic arthritis (60%),
• isolated acute anterior uveitis (AAU, iritis or iridocyclitis, 50%), and
• undifferentiated SpA (USpA, 20-25%).

Whipple disease and Behçet disease may also be linked to HLA-B27, as may undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy.