title: [Psoriatic arthritis: epidemiological and clinical aspects in a cohort of 1.306 Italian patients].
abstract: Because there is the impression that psoriatic arthritis is a composite disorder with mild forms close to more severe and aggressive ones, we conducted a multicenter study with the aim of characterizing disease expression in a large cohort of Italian patients. One-thousand-three-hundred-six patients fulfilled inclusion criteria and were analyzed in this study. Psoriasis antedated the onset of arthritis in the majority of the cases (67.7%). More rare was inverse or simultaneous onset which occurred in 17.3% and 15.0% of the cases, respectively. Peripheral articular involvement (mono-oligo or polyarthritis) was recorded in 88.7% of the cases while spondylitis occurred in 11.3%. Peripheral enthesopathies were found in 28.1% of the cases with a marked occurrence in patients with axial involvement (64.5% vs 35.5% in oligo or polyarthritis). Abnormal levels of ESR and CRP respectively occurred in 52.2% and in 52.6% of the cases, while rheumatoid factor was detected in 5.0% of the cases. On the basis of distribution of joint involvement, symmetry and presence of peripheral enthesopathies we recognized three clusters of arthritis. Patients included in Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 showed a severe form of polyarthritis in most of the cases (82.9%), with increased serum levels of inflammatory indices in more than 85% of the cases. Almost all the hospitalized patients (97.1%) were included in this two clusters. They markedly assumed steroids and methotrexate or another DMARD. About half of the patients (51.1%) included in Cluster 3 showed mono-oligo articular involvement. Serum inflammatory indices were increased in 20.8% of the cases while hospitalization occurred only in 2.9% of the cases and NSAIDs were the treatment of choice. The evidence in our country of a large prevalence of severe forms of arthritis needing specific and aggressive approach outlines the requirement of an intense educational action aimed at increasing the awareness of this condition.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Reumatologica, Università di Ancona, Italia.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cervini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leardini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mathieu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Punzi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scarpa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015535:Arthritis, Psoriatic / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000097:blood; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor