Opportunities of Trabecular Bone Score to Evaluate Ankylosing Spondilitis Structural Progression in Young Male Patients

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic progressive systemic inflammatory disease, with a primary lesion of the spine and sacroiliac joints characterized by simultaneously running processes of osteogenesis (syndesmophytes) and osteoresorption (osteoporosis). The aim of this work is to investigate trabecular bone score (TBS) correlation with signs of AS structural progression and markers of AS activity in the males before 50. Twenty one AS male patients before 50 without osteoporosis are included in investigation. The relationships between TBS, the Kellgren sacroiliitis stage, and BMD indices in different parts of the skeleton were studied using Spearman correlation analysis. A negative correlation was found between TBS and the X-ray stage of Kellgren sacroiliitis (r = -0.49; p <; 0.05) in men before 50 with AS. Clinical and laboratory activity did not correlate with TBS. Bone mineral density (BMD) did not reflect the degree of structural disturbances and the risks of spinal fractures in men before 50 with AS in the absence of other causes of secondary osteoporosis.