[Sulfasalazine in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis]

Ninety-five patients with ankylosing spondylitis received either sulphasalazine (less than or equal to 3 g/day) or placebo for 24 weeks. The patients who received sulphasalazine showed significantly improved clinical parameters [duration of morning stiffness (p less than 0.05), the number of painful and swollen joints (less than 0.05)] and laboratory parameters [erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p less than 0.001), haptoglobin (p less than 0.05), IgG (p less than 0.05), IgA (p less than 0.001), IgM (p less than 0.05)]. No statistically significant differences were seen in the patients receiving placebo. The results suggest that sulphasalazine is effective for the treatment of patients with ankylosing spondylitis. In these patients, there was also a diminution of the daily dosage of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. In the majority of patients, clinical and laboratory improvements were expressed more pronouncedly in the peripheral form of ankylosing spondylitis than in the axial form, but statistically no significant differences were found between the two groups.