A MULTICASE FAMILY WITH SPONDYLARTHROPATHIES

Thirty six members of a family with symptoms and signs from the skin a nd/or the joints were examined clinically and radiologically and HLA t yped. Fourteen were classified as having inflammatory joint disease, e ight of them with more than one disease within the spondylarthropathy group (SpA). Four had psoriasis of the skin, two of whom had psoriatic arthritis. Ten (five males, five females) had radiological signs of s acroiliitis, eight of them fulfilled the criteria for SpA. Five (four males, one female) with sacroiliitis had radiological signs of spine i nvolvement. One female member was classified as having rheumatoid arth ritis. Seven with sacroiliitis were HLA-B27 positive, related to the s ame haplotype. Two with psoriasis were B27 positive and the other two had another haplotype in common. No single HLA antigen or haplotype wa s associated with the inflammatory joint manifestations or skin lesion s. This suggests involvement of other gene loci or coincidence of mult icases.