Ambulatory 24-hour continuous electrocardiographic monitoring in 54 patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Of 54 patients with ankylosing spondylitis 48 were found to be HLA B27 positive. Ambulatory 24-hour Holter monitoring revealed electrocardiographic 'abnormalities' in 12 of the 48 HLA B27 positive patients. To our knowledge this is the first ambulatory Holter monitoring of a group of patients with ankylosing spondylitis, and the outcome seems to suggest a relationship between the tissue type HLA B27 and the occurrence of electrocardiographic 'abnormalities'. The frequency of atrioventricular block (types I and III) and atrial tachycardia was significantly higher in this group of patients than that found in similar studies of healthy adults. The frequency of psoriasis and cardiac murmurs was increased among the patients with electrocardiographic 'abnormalities'.