Systems Pathology Exam 1 Practice

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory arthritis that begins in the sacroiliac joints and can progress to fusion of the spine. The statement that describes this pattern—involvement of the sacroiliac joints with chronic inflammation and potential progression to spinal fusion—fits the typical course of the disease, including the possibility of developing a fused “bamboo spine” on imaging and persistent inflammatory back pain. This distinguishes it from spinal infections (which are infectious rather than autoimmune), from diseases that primarily affect the knees with no spinal involvement, and from degenerative osteoarthritis that features DIP osteophytes rather than an inflammatory axial process.