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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Sep 28, 2015; 7(9): 236-252
Published online Sep 28, 2015. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v7.i9.236
Ankylosing spondylitis: A state of the art factual backbone
Mohammad Ghasemi-rad, Hosam Attaya, Emal Lesha, Andrea Vegh, Tooraj Maleki-Miandoab, Emad Nosair, Nariman Sepehrvand, Ali Davarian, Hamid Rajebi, Abdolghader Pakniat, Seyed Amirhossein Fazeli, Afshin Mohammadi
Mohammad Ghasemi-rad, Hosam Attaya, Division of Interventional Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, United States
Mohammad Ghasemi-rad, Emal Lesha, Andrea Vegh, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
Emal Lesha, College of Science and Mathematics, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02138, United States
Andrea Vegh, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S1A4, Canada
Tooraj Maleki-Miandoab, Department of Radiology, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia 5716763111, Iran
Emad Nosair, Anatomical Sciences, Basic Medical Sciences Department, College of Medicine, Sharjah University, Sharjah 27272, The United Arab Emirates
Nariman Sepehrvand, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2R3, Canada
Ali Davarian, Ischemic Disorders Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan 49177-53715, Iran
Hamid Rajebi, Radiology Department, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, United States
Abdolghader Pakniat, Department of Emergency Medicine, Arak University of Medical Science, Arak 3815934798, Iran
Seyed Amirhossein Fazeli, Department of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan 981691339, Iran
Afshin Mohammadi, Solid Tumor Research Center, Imam Khomaini Hospital, University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, West Azarbaijan 5716763111, Iran
Author contributions: All authors contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Afshin Mohammadi, Professor of Radiology, Solid Tumor Research Center, Imam Khomaini Hospital, University of Medical Sciences, Ershad Street, Urmia, West Azarbaijan 5716763111, Iran. afshin.mohdi@gmail.com
Telephone: +98-914-3480425
Received: November 22, 2014
Peer-review started: November 22, 2014
First decision: December 26, 2014
Revised: May 12, 2015
Accepted: June 15, 2015
Article in press: June 16, 2015
Published online: September 28, 2015
Abstract

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects 1% of the general population. As one of the most severe types of spondyloarthropathy, AS affects the spinal vertebrae and sacroiliac joints, causing debilitating pain and loss of mobility. The goal of this review is to provide an overview of AS, from the pathophysiological changes that occur as the disease progresses, to genetic factors that are involved with its onset. Considering the high prevalence in the population, and the debilitating life changes that occur as a result of the disease, a strong emphasis is placed on the diagnostic imaging methods that are used to detect this condition, as well as several treatment methods that could improve the health of individuals diagnosed with AS.

Keywords: Ankylosing spondylitis, Magnetic resonance imaging, Ultrasound, Computed tomography, Treatment, Diagnosis

Core tip: Considering the high prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in the population, and the debilitating life changes that occur as a result of the disease, this article places a strong emphasis on the diagnostic imaging methods that are used to detect this condition, as well as several treatment methods that could improve the health of individuals diagnosed with AS. However, we have also tried to provide a summary of current knowledge on AS in this manuscript, which can be used as a handbook for physicians handling patients with this condition.