Ankylosing spondylitis in a military aviator: air medical considerations

Abstract

Rheumatologic diseases are a challenging diagnosis when it comes to air medical disposition decision making because many of these diseases overlap and their initial presentation is insidious and relapsing remitting in future scope. Many rheumatologic diseases have musculoskeletal and other organ complications. One of these diagnoses is spondyloarthritides. These disorders include ankylosing spondylitis (AS), reactive arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and spondylitis, enteropathic arthritis and spondylitis, juvenile-onset spondyloarthritis, and undifferentiated spondyloarthritis. The prevalence of spondyloarthropathy is estimated to be between 0.1% and 2.5%,(1) although figures vary from 1 study to another. In this article, we report the case of a military pilot diagnosed with AS who had a favorable response to treatment with etanercept therapy.