Abstract
The group of inflammatory rheumatic diseases of the back (spondyloarthritides /SpA/) include autoimmune inflammatory diseases wherein the inflammation affects the axial skeleton, root joints, and peripheral joints, predominantly in the lower limbs. The most common disease of the SpA group is ankylosing spondylitis (Bechterew's disease).
The diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis has been based on the 1984 modified New York criteria which require radiographic confirmation of injury to the sacroiliac joints. The author aims to highlight in the article that the use of novel diagnostic methods hasfundamentally changed the approach to this disease, and presents an overview of the current classification criteria that allow for detection of the disease prior to developing permanent structural changes.