Description
Where have we been, where are we and where do we go from here?
Thanks to our 5,750 patients with ankylosing spondylitis, followed at the RNHRD in Bath, we have been able to define outcome, the sine qua non of clinical and analytical evaluation in the 21st Century. Herein, the evolution of outcomes research is documented, with a focus on disease activity, metrology, function, global status and radiology. The development of Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis indices is defined. Armed with such tools we can
begin to perform meaningful clinico-pharmacological studies and continue our exploration of the human genome vis a vis our focus on severity and susceptibility genes. Moreover, the intriguing interplay between genetics and environment, on the one hand, and sex and disease on the other can be
defined. Indeed, only now can we begin to understand the contribution of the genome and sex to the phenotypic expression of this fascinating disease.
