Does the co-existence of acute anterior uveitis and chronic back pain prompt primary care physicians to consider a diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis?

We read with interest the article by Haroon et al 1 indicating that approximately 40% of patients with acute anterior uveitis (AAU) have undiagnosed spondyloarthritis. Unfortunately, delay to diagnosis remains a huge challenge in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) despite the publication of the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS) classification criteria, which formally recognises the role of MRI in diagnosis.2 We recently reported that the mean delay in diagnosis among 1193 patients attending two large secondary care centres in the UK was 8.5 years.3 Despite a 51% increase in new diagnoses since 2009, the delay in diagnosis has not improved and the presence of AAU was associated …