Investigation ofthe Development of Articular Damage in Psoriatic Arthritis. Clinical Evaluation

Overview

The objective of the study was to assess the incidence of different subtypes of psoriatic arthritis, toinvestigate the development of articular damage in relation to different characteristics of thedisease and validate predictors of the severity suggested in 1995 by Gladman et al. In the paper thecharacteristics of a group of 115 patients with PsA are given and compared with the availableliterature. The mean duration of the disease at the time of the initial examination was 8 years. Thedisease was manifested most frequently as oligoarthritis (73 %), as monoarthritis (10 %) or aspolyarthritis (17 %). Dactylitis was recorded in 14 % patients and tendinopathies in 5 %. In 38 %patients the movement of at least one joint was restricted. At least one deformity was present in 6 %patients. The sub-group with affections, mainly of the distal interphalangeal joints comprised 15 %patients, oligoarticular affections were present in 30 % patients and polyarticular affections in 34 %patients. The sub-group with axial affection only comprised 6 % patients and the sub-group withcombined axial and peripheral affection 16 % patients. According to functional classification of theAmerican Rheumatism Association of 1965 24 % patients were in stage I, 56 % in stage II and 20 % instage III. None of the patients were in stage IV. The evaluation of the group confirmed that psoriaticarthritis, considered so far by the medical community as a relatively benign disease, may be a seriouscrippling arthropathy.

Key words:
psoriatic arthritis, clinical articular damage