Ankylosing Spondylitis: ABFM practice questions

4 board-style questions on ankylosing spondylitis in the PulseMD family medicine question bank, written against current guidelines with the reference cited on each question. Two free samples below; the full set with answers, explanations, and spaced review is free to start.

Sample question 1

A 24-year-old man presents with a 6-month history of low back pain and stiffness that is worst in the morning and improves with exercise. He reports the pain often wakes him during the second half of the night. On exam, he has reduced lumbar flexion. Which genetic marker is MOST strongly associated with this patient's likely diagnosis?

  1. HLA-B51
  2. HLA-DR4
  3. HLA-DQ2
  4. HLA-B27

Sample question 2

A 26-year-old man has had inflammatory low back pain for 8 months. He is HLA-B27 positive. Pelvic X-ray shows no definitive sacroiliitis. His symptoms have not responded to two different NSAIDs over 4 weeks each. Which imaging modality is MOST appropriate to evaluate for early sacroiliitis?

  1. CT scan of the sacroiliac joints
  2. Bone scintigraphy (nuclear bone scan)
  3. MRI of the sacroiliac joints
  4. Repeat pelvic X-ray in 6 months

Create a free PulseMD account to answer these, see the explanations, and practice five minutes a day.

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