Of 84 people
who had surgery for correction of deformity in Germany, 34 had neck
surgery and 50 had spinal (back) surgery. The surgery was a success
in giving people an forward facing head and straighter spine in 83 people
but one person was left with paraplegia a day after the operation (i.e.
paralyzed from the body down). Wound infection occurred in 2 people
and healed with treatment.
Surgery
can not simply chip off the fused bits leaving an un-fused and fully
mobile spine.
Should
I get my children tested for the B27 gene?
No. If
you have ankylosing spondylitis there is a 5 in 10 chance that your
child will have the B27 gene. In fact 8 in 100 people
carry this gene . The B27 gene is not enough by itself to develop
ankylosing spondylitis. Other genes and a trigger are needed for ankylosing
spondylitis to develop. So knowing that a child has the B27 gene does
not mean anything. Instead you should be aware that pain and swelling
in the knees, foot or ankle could be the development of arthritis in
children and so you should have a doctor check these symptoms. You should
always encourage children to be active and to do sports or exercise
and to investigate pain and swelling were there has not obviously been
an injury.
Does
ankylosing spondylitis go into remission after the age of 40?
Some people
do report to have less symptoms with time. The level of disease
activity is slight lower with increasing disease duration but it is
not clear if this is because people get used to the pain and fatigue.
In a study of 100 people with AS in Norway more than 8 in 10 people
still had pain and stiffness after 20 years of disease and 6 in 10 still
took daily drugs. The number of flares of disease a person experiences
does not get less with time or age. Therefore, it appears that
in the majority of people AS does not go into remission but in a lucky
few [perhaps 2 in 10 people] it may get less with time.
References:
Saghir
H, Boehm H. Surgical options in the treatment of spinal disorders in
ankyloisng spondylitis. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2002; 20(Suppl.28): S101-S105.
Gran J,
Skomsvoll J. The outcome of ankylosing spondylitis : a study of 100
patients. Br J Rheumatol 1997; 36:766-71.
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