HLAb27 positive

I'm HLAb27 negative, but I still have lower back pain/SI pain. My rheumatologist has spent a few years trying to get to the bottom of it and deciding whether this was inflammatory. I had an MRI last month and the final answer is NO. I simply have Spondylolisthesis at L5/S1. This is the most common kind of osteoarthritis in the lower spine I think.

I guess my point is that it took a while (plus 3 MRIs, an abdominal CT and an attempted cortisone injection to the SI) to figure this out. My rheumy was at one time sure that I had AS, despite my negative status.

I have Crohn's, and am HLA-B27 positive. I was first diagnosed with spondyloarthropathy with enthesopathy. Then when an MRI showed severe inflammation in the SI joints, and a back xray showed new bone formation on the spine, I was diagnosed with AS. From info on the Spondylitis Association of America's web site: "First, HLA-B27 is a perfectly normal gene found in 8% of the caucasian population. Generally speaking, no more than 2% of people born with this gene will eventually get spondylitis.
Secondly, it is important to note that the HLA-B27 test is not a diagnostic test for AS. Also, the association between AS and HLA-B27 varies in different ethnic and racial groups."

While you are researching AS also check into enteropathic arthritis and spondyloarthropathy. Sorry you are having joint issues. I assume that's why your rheumy ordered the HLA-B27 test.