Although absolute number of patients with CD at present is not very large, this number is expected to increase over the next few years or decades. It is thus appropriate that medical community across the Asia–Pacific region define extent of problem and get prepared to handle impending epidemic of CD.

With the use of these 4 TB screening tests in India, where TB is highly prevalent, TB could be excluded with a high degree of certainty (NPV 0.97). However, as even this combination of tests has only moderate sensitivity and specificity and poor PPV for detecting TB, vigilance may be advisable even if only one of the tests is positive.

Carvedilol is more effective in reducing portal pressure in patients with cirrhosis with esophageal bleed. Though a larger study is required to substantiate this, the results in this study are promising for carvedilol. Clinical trials online government registry (CTRI/2013/10/004119). Trial registration number CTRI/2013/10/004119.

Aim: Comparison of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) classified with the recent ASsessment of spondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) criteria. Patients & Methods:This study included 288 patients clinically diagnosed as having spondyloarthritis (SpA) where a satisfactory radiograph of sacroiliac (S-I) joints was available. The AS and the nr-axSpA groups were compared for the various SpA-related variables.Results: Of 288 axSpA patients, there were 187 with AS. Of the remaining 101 patients without radiographic sacroiliitis, S-I joint magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was available in 72; 54 of them showed active sacroiliitis thus classified as nr-axSpA according to the ASAS criteria. The remaining 18 patients with normal MRI and the other 29 patients without MRI of the S-I joints (total 47 patients), were classified as nr-axSpA using the 'clinical arm' of the ASAS criteria. On comparing the 187 AS with 101 patients in the nr-axSpA group, the AS group showed significantly more males, longer disease duration, more axial symptoms at disease onset, higher Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index and more syndesmophytes. Biologicals were offered significantly more often to the AS group but methotrexate as monotherapy or in combination with other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs was offered more often in nr-axSpA group. There was no statistically significant difference between AS and nr-axSpA in other SpA parameters. Conclusion:The differences brought out between AS and nr-axSpA groups show that they may not be the same disease. A prospective long-term follow-up of large cohorts may help in clarifying if nr-axSpA is simply an early stage in the spectrum of SpA evolving into AS over time or is there inherent difference between them.

Since 1984 the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) has been based upon the modified New York (mNY) criteria with mandatory presence of radiographic sacroiliitis, without which the diagnosis is not tenable. However, it may take years or decades for radiographic sacroiliitis to develop delaying the diagnosis for long periods. It did not matter in the past because no effective treatment was available. However, with the availability of a highly effective treatment, namely, tumour necrosis factor-α inhibitors (TNFi), the issue of early diagnosis of AS acquired an urgency. The Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) classification criteria published in 2009 was a significant step towards this goal. These criteria described an early stage of the disease where sacroiliitis was demonstrable only on MRI but not on standard radiograph. Therefore, this stage of the disease was labelled “nonradiographic axial SpA” (nr-axSpA). But questions have been raised if, in search of early diagnosis, specificity was compromised. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA, USA) withheld approval for the use of TNFi in patients with nr-axSpA because of issues related to the specificity of these criteria. This review attempts to clarify some of these aspects of the nr-axSpA-AS relationship and also tries to answer the question whether ASAS classifiable radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (r-axSpA) term can be interchangeably used with the term AS.