The objectives of this study were to estimate the cost-of-illness (COI) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in Korea and to evaluate the effects of socio-demographic and clinical factors on the COI and the HRQOL. Face-to-face interview surveys were taken from patients with AS at the Rheumatology Clinic of Seoul National University Hospital. Direct medical and non-medical costs, indirect costs (productivity loss due to job loss and sick leave), and deterioration of HRQOL in patients with AS were measured. Factors associated with COI and HRQOL were analyzed with multiple regression and multivariate logistic regression. A total of 191 patients with AS was enrolled in the study. The COI in patients with AS amounted to 11,646,180 Korean Won (KRW) per patient, and their HRQOL was 0.62. As functional severity worsened, the total costs increased (class I, KRW 7.7 million; class II, KRW 12.9 million; classes III & IV, KRW 25.2 million) and the HRQOL scores decreased (class I, 0.72; class II, 0.61; classes III & IV, 0.24). Functional severity is the major determinant of the COI and HRQOL in patients with AS.Graphical Abstract

Taken together, in Korean patients with GPA, the granulomatous form was predominant and associated with a younger age at diagnosis and a lower frequency of renal involvement than the vasculitic form. ANCA positivity was found in 68.9 % and associated with renal involvement and higher mortality.

Tofacitinib, a novel Janus kinase inhibitor, may prevent structural damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this cohort study, we compared radiographic progression of hand joints between 21 RA patients who took tofacitinb for 18 months in a phase IIb and its extension study and 42 patients who took conventional disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), using simple erosion narrowing score. For tofacitinib group, changes before and after the treatment were also compared. The changes of erosion and sum scores were significantly less in tofacitinib than DMARDs group (for erosion, -0.60 ± 1.83 vs 0.51 ± 1.77, P = 0.038; for sum, -0.50 ± 1.72 vs 1.57 ± 4.13, P = 0.012). Joint space narrowing score (JSN) was also less in tofacitinib group (0.095 ± 0.58 vs 1.06 ± 2.60, P = 0.055). In tofacitinib group, yearly rates of both erosion and JSN were significantly decreased after administration of tofacitinib (For erosion, 0.62 ± 0.93 to -0.14 ± 0.48, P = 0.009; for JSN, 0.47 ± 0.64 to 0.03 ± 0.40, P = 0.032), as was change of sum score (1.09 ± 1.27 to -0.10 ± 0.63, P < 0.001). In conclusion, tofacitinib may prevent structural damage caused by RA.