Is ankylosing spondylitis serious in women?

If female friends suffer from ankylosing spondylitis, it must be more serious, because the symptoms of this disease will gradually become very serious, and eventually the patient will be unable to live and work normally, and even the normal ability to walk will be lost. Therefore, you should go to the hospital for a detailed examination as soon as the disease is detected, so that you can get treatment faster.

5. Rheumatoid arthritis

It has been confirmed that AS is not a special type of RA, and there are many differences between the two. RA is more common in women. It usually first affects the small joints of the hands and feet and is bilaterally symmetrical. The sacroiliac joints are generally not affected. If it affects the spine, it usually only affects the cervical vertebrae, and there is no paraspinal ligament calcification. There are rheumatoid subcutaneous nodules, serum RF is often positive, and HLA-B27 antigen is often negative.

6. Enteropathic arthropathy

Spondylitis can occur in ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, or Whipple's disease, and the affected joints and X-ray changes of enteropathic arthropathy are similar to those of AS and are difficult to distinguish. Therefore, it is necessary to look for intestinal symptoms and signs for differentiation. Ulcerative colitis is characterized by colonic mucosal ulcers, edema, and bloody diarrhea.

Crohn's disease is characterized by abdominal pain, nutritional disorders, and fistula formation. Whipple's disease presents with steatorrhea, rapid weight loss, etc. These all help in the diagnosis of primary diseases. The HLA-B27 positivity rate in enteropathic arthropathy is low, the IgG in the intestinal perfusion fluid of Crohn's disease patients is increased, while the IgG in the intestinal perfusion fluid of AS patients is basically normal.

7. Reiter syndrome and psoriatic arthritis

Both diseases can cause spondylitis and sacroiliitis, but spondylitis generally occurs later and is milder, with less paravertebral tissue calcification, and ligament osteophytes are mainly non-marginal (calcification of the fibrous tissue outside the annulus fibrosus). Partial bone bridges are formed between adjacent vertebrae, which is different from the bamboo-like spine of AS. Sacroiliitis is generally unilateral or bilateral asymmetric lesions, while psoriatic arthritis has skin psoriasis lesions that can be used for differentiation.

8. Tumors

Tumors can also cause progressive pain, so a comprehensive examination is needed to make a clear diagnosis to avoid misdiagnosis.

9. Acute rheumatic fever

The initial clinical manifestations of some patients are quite similar to acute rheumatic fever, with swelling and pain in large joints, or long-term low-grade fever and weight loss. It is not uncommon for high fever and acute inflammation of peripheral joints to be the first symptoms. Such patients are more common in adolescents and are easily misdiagnosed for a long time.

10. Tuberculosis

Some patients may have symptoms similar to tuberculosis in the early stages, with symptoms such as low-grade fever, night sweats, weakness, fatigue, weight loss, anemia, and sometimes unilateral hip joint inflammation, which can easily be misdiagnosed as tuberculosis. Relevant tuberculosis examination can be identified.