Celecoxib and ankylosing spondylitis

It is now over 100 years since the arrival of aspirin and, from the mid-20th Century onwards, we have seen numerous attempts at providing society with safer and more efficacious nonsteroidal drugs. Ironically, while aspirin went from strength to strength with an ever-increasing pharmaceutical profile, new nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs arrived and disappeared with rapid succession. Finally, there appears to have been a breakthrough with the development of the coxibs but concern has recently developed because of potential toxic cardiovascular reactions. Although originally studied in rheumatoid arthritis and degenerative arthropathy, the coxibs have now been investigated in ankylosing spondylitis and efficacy appears to be favorable and, to date, there is little evidence of toxicity, although problems in the nonspondylarthropathic arena may spill over into the seronegative spondylarthritides.