Clinical features of skin lesions and joint injury in 121 patients with psoriatic arthritis

TANG Zijie; PANG Xiaowen; LIU Fang; ZHANG Ping; DONG Hailing; LIU Wei

Abstract：Objective To investigate the clinical features of skin lesions and joint injury associated with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods A retrospective analysis was performed of the baseline clinical data of 121 patients with PsA who were enrolled in this study according to CASPAR criteria. Results ①Onset status: The average age of first onset of skin lesions and arthritis was(27.51±11.95)and(36.70±11.95)years respectively. The incidence of PsA in which skin lesions antedated arthritis was 82.64%. ②Features of skin lesions in PsA: Vulgaris lesions were dominating among 92.56%of the patients. Patients withprogressive skin lesions accounted for 73.60%. ③Features of joint injury in PsA: Peripheral arthritis occurred in 83.47% of the cases. Enthesitis and synovitis were synchronously involved in 80.99% of the cases. The most susceptible joint was the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint, which was most common in the third finger. ④There was significant difference (P=0.001) in the classification of skin lesions for peripheral and axial PsA. Conclusion The onset of skin lesions occurs at a younger age than that of arthritis in patients with PsA. Skin lesions are mainly manifested as psoriasis vulgaris. Joint injury is mostly involved in peripheral motor diarthrosis and shows a significant proportion of enthesitis combined with synovitis. The most frequent joint involved in PsA is the PIP joint. Compared with peripheral arthritis, the occurrence of pustular and erythrodermic lesions is higher in patients with axial arthritis. In-depth understanding of the characteristics of skin lesions and joint injury in PsA is conducive to the early diagnosis and prevention of PsA.