Ankylosing spondylitis 强直性脊柱炎

(from http://www.wikipedia.org)

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS, from Greek ankylos, bent; spondylos, vertebrae), previously known as Bechterew's disease, Bechterew syndrome, and Marie Strümpell disease , a form of Spondyloarthritis, is a chronic, inflammatory arthritis and autoimmune disease. It mainly affects joints in the spine and the sacroilium in the pelvis, causing eventual fusion of the spine. For many with AS, but more so for women, in addition to the spine the disease can affect other joints throughout the body such as the shoulders, hips, knees, feet, as well as other joints. For some, peripheral joints are affected before there is ever any spine pain or inflammation, leading doctors and rheumatologists to sometimes misdiagnose someone with another rheumatic disease such as Rheumatoid Arthritis that does not affect the spine.
It is a member of the group of the spondyloarthropathies with a strong genetic predisposition. Complete fusion results in a complete rigidity of the spine, a condition known as bamboo spine.

The typical patient is young, aged 18–30, when symptoms of the disease first appear with chronic pain and stiffness in the lower part of the spine or sometimes the entire spine, often with pain referred to one or other buttock or the back of thigh from the sacroiliac joint, but as previously mentioned, for some, commonly women, the first symptoms are peripheral joint pain, not the lower spine. AS can also affect young children and teenagers.

强直性脊柱炎(拉丁文：spondylitis ankylosans, 其中 spondylitis 原为希腊文脊柱炎之意，ankylosans原系希腊文强直之意)，又稱僵直性脊椎炎，是一种慢性關節炎(屬中醫之风湿範疇)，伴随有脊柱关节的疼痛和强直症状。在欧陆亦称此病为白赫铁列夫症(Morbus Bechterew)、白赫铁列夫-史特林佩尔-玛丽症(Bechterew-Struempell-Marie-Krankheit)等。英文为Ankylosing Spondylitis, 国际简称为AS.

(from http://www.chinatfb.net/qzxjzy/liaofa.asp)
强直性脊柱炎属于脊柱关节症候群，主要影响腰椎、胸椎以及骶髂关节，現在相信與免疫失調及遺傳因子有關。除此以外，强直性脊柱炎尚能引发眼虹膜炎症以及影响到身体之其他器官. 强直性脊柱炎（英文简称AS）是一种血清反映阴性，病因不明的常见关节疾病，但与遗传性因素及感染因子等有关，强直性脊柱炎多发于中青年，15岁—40岁间患强直性脊柱炎者占79%，男性多于女性。强直性脊柱炎是一种进行性、独立性、全身性疾病，一般先由骶髂关节起逐渐沿脊柱向上延伸，波及椎间关节滑膜和关节囊，以及脊柱周围的韧带等软组织发生钙化和骨化。先以侵犯中轴关节及四肢大关节为主，最后波及其它关节及内脏，本病发展到晚期时，脊柱将出现严重强直或驼背畸形，造成人体重度残疾。因此，强直性脊柱炎的患者如失去正确有效的治疗机会，痛苦往往陪伴后半生，病痛加致残，对患者无疑是一种残酷的折磨。