Brigatinib shows preclinical promise for aggressive relapsed/refractory ak = lk-positive alcl

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease predominantly involving the axial skeleton. Presenting symptoms generally occur before the age of 30 and men are affected more commonly compared to women. The chronic and progressive nature of the disease may cause spinal restriction and can adversely affect quality of life, as well as the psychological and economic status of the patients (Poddubnyy and Sieper, 2012). The prevalence of AS has been reported to be as high as that of rheumatoid arthritis with estimates ranging from 0.03% to 1.4% (Haroon et al., 2014). There are several extraspinal manifestations that may complicate the clinical course such as arthritis, acute anterior uveitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis. Involvement of the cardiovascular (CV) system and increased CV mortality and morbidity has been reported in AS (Braun and Pincus, 2002; Zochling and Braun, 2009; Nurmohamed et al., 2012; Haroon et al., 2015). This chapter focuses on various aspects of CV involvement in AS.