Influence of Anti-TNF and Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs Therapy on Pulmonary Forced Vital Capacity Associated to Ankylosing Spondylitis: A 2-Year Follow-Up Observational Study
Table 1
Comparison of selected variables at baseline between treatment groups.
Variable
Treatment groups
DMARDs
Anti-TNF + DMARDs
Males, (%)
14 (70.0)
14 (87.5)
0.26
Age, years
41 (26–67)
45 (27–59)
0.40
AS characteristics
Disease duration, years
11 (1–27)
15 (7–27)
0.07
Past history or present history, (%)
Enthesopathy
7 (35.0)
11 (68.8)
0.09
Peripheral arthritis
3 (15.0)
6 (37.5)
0.15
Uveitis
3 (15.0)
5 (31.3)
0.42
BASDAI, units
5 (3–8)
5 (4–8)
0.28
BASFI, units
6 (3–7)
5 (3–8)
0.42
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, mm/h
29.50 (21.0–62.0)
21.0 (12.0–48.0)
0.001
Presence of cervical syndesmophytes, (%)
15 (75.0)
12 (75.0)
1.00
Presence of lumbar syndesmophytes, (%)
12 (60.0)
9 (56.3)
0.20
Cervical or lumbar syndesmophytes bridging, (%)
1 (5.0)
6 (37.5)
0.02
Cardiopulmonary scales
6MWT, mt
282 (235–386)
322 (230–380)
0.89
Pre-6MWT VAS Borg scale
0 (0-1)
0 (0–0.5)
0.35
Post-6MWT VAS Borg scale
2 (0–4.6)
2.2 (0–4.1)
0.37
Development of dyspnea, (%)
9 (45)
7 (44)
0.60
Health-related quality of life score
SGRQ, %
Symptoms
30 (2–57)
23 (3–43)
0.77
Activity
28 (1–59)
25 (2–57)
0.32
Impact
14 (1–43)
16 (0–45)
0.40
Total
37 (3–58)
29 (3–58)
0.29
Lung function test
FVC (% of predicted)
69 (52–79)
69 (57–77)
0.37
FEV1 (% of predicted)
82 (80–90)
82 (81–85)
0.60
Restrictive pattern, (%)
20 (100)
16 (100)
1.00
Severity of restrictive pattern
Mild (70–79%), (%)
9 (45.0)
8 (50.0)
0.70
Moderate (50–69%), (%)
7 (35.0)
2 (12.5)
Severe (50% or less), (%)
4 (20.0)
6 (37.5)
Treatment
Methotrexate, (%)
14 (70.0)
10 (62.5)
1.00
Sulfasalazine, (%)
13 (65.0)
9 (56.3)
0.73
Azathioprine, (%)
3 (15.0)
4 (25)
0.42
Etanercept, (%)
0
10 (62.4)
—
Infliximab, (%)
0
5 (31.3)
—
Adalimumab, (%)
0
1 (6.3)
—
Corticosteroids utilization, (%)
4 (20.0)
2 (12.5)
0.67
AS, ankylosing spondylitis; DMARDs, disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs; anti-TNF, Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; BASDAI, Bath AS Disease Activity Index; BASFI, Bath AS Functional Index; 6MWT, six-minute walk test; VAS, visual analogue scale; SGRQ, St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire; FVC, forced vital capacity; FEV1%, forced expiratory volume in 1 second. Quantitative variables are presented as median and range; qualitative variables are presented in number (%). Comparisons between proportions were compared with Fisher exact test; comparisons between medians were evaluated with Mann-Whitney test.
