The chest radiograph in ankylosing spondylitis

In a study of 42 patients with ankylosing spondylitis, upper lobe fibrosis was present in six (14·3%) patients. All the patients with upper lobe fibrosis had total spinal ankylosis, and half showed peripheral joint involvement. A further 13 patients (30·9%) had other focal pulmonary abnormalities compared with only six (14·3%) of a group of age-matched controls. There was no correlation between the radiological extent of the disease (spinal changes and pulmonary involvement) and any of the haematological or biochemical parameters measured. Treatment with radiotherapy was not responsible for these changes.