Objective.: The purpose of the ULISSE study was to evaluate the prevalence of clinical and ultrasonographic (US) entheseal involvement in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), psoriasis, and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).Methods.: In this cross-sectional multicenter study, patients with PsA and psoriasis (not taking systemic therapy) and FMS underwent a clinical evaluation of the entheses, and a B-mode and power Doppler examination of 6 pairs of entheses.Results.: The study analyzed 140 patients with PsA, 51 with psoriasis, and 51 with FMS. Clinical and US examinations were performed in 1960 and 1680 entheses in the PsA group, and 714 and 612 entheses both in the psoriasis group and in the FMS group. In both per-patient and per-enthesis evaluation, the frequency of entheseal tenderness was higher in patients with FMS (92% of the patients and 46% of the entheses, compared with 66%/23% in the PsA group and 59%/18% in the psoriasis group). With US examination, signs of entheseal involvement were more frequent in both the per-patient and per-enthesis evaluation in PsA and psoriasis (about 90% of patients in both the PsA and psoriasis groups and 75% of patients in the FMS group had at least 1 site affected, and 54%, 41%, and 27% of the pairs of entheses in, respectively, PsA, psoriasis, and FMS patients showed at least 1 enthesis involved).Conclusion.: The ULISSE study indicated that enthesitis is a common feature in patients with PsA, those with psoriasis, and in those with FMS if only clinical examination is used. US entheseal assessment showed findings more consistent with the 3 disorders.

Objective. The aim of this study was to compare clinical examination with power Doppler US (PDUS) in the detection of entheseal abnormalities in patients with AS. Methods. Thirty-six AS patients underwent clinical and PDUS examination of the following bilateral entheseal sites: common extensor tendon at its insertion at the lateral humeral epicondyle; gluteus tendons at their insertion at the greater trochanter; quadriceps tendon at its insertion at the superior pole of the patella; patellar tendon at its proximal insertion at the inferior pole of the patella; patellar tendon at its distal insertion at the tibial tuberosity; Achilles tendon at its insertion at the calcaneus; and plantar aponeuroses at its insertion at the calcaneus. Results. Clinical and PDUS examination revealed at least one abnormal enthesis in 23 (63.9%) and 35 (97.2%) AS patients, respectively. Furthermore, of 432 entheses examined in our 36 AS patients, 64 (14.8%) were considered abnormal by clinical examination and 192 (44.4%) by PDUS. US abnormalities most commonly found were enthesophytes (31.7%), calcifications (33.7%), thickening (29.8%) and hypoechogenicity (26.6%). We found erosions and PD signals in 9.7 and 6% of examined entheseal sites, respectively. The evidence of entheseal abnormalities by clinical examination has a poor likelihood ratio (LR) for the presence of US abnormalities with vascularization (LR = 1.61), without vascularization (LR = 1.24) or erosions (LR = 1.51) at all sites. Conclusions. PDUS permits detection of structural and inflammatory abnormalities of the enthesis in AS and may complement the physical examination in order to better evaluate enthesitis.

Objective A state of remission is the target of therapy in chronic arthritis. The aim of the present study was to assess the rate of minimal disease activity (MDA) and remission in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) treated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) blockers. Disease characteristics and predictors of MDA were also evaluated. Methods Patients fulfilling the ClASsification for Psoriatic ARthritis (CASPAR) criteria and treated with TNF-α blockers adalimumab, etanercept, or golimumab were enrolled and prospectively followed every 4 months for 1 year in a clinical practice setting. Patients were considered in MDA when they met at least 5/7 of the criteria previously defined. Other remission criteria evaluated were 28-joint Disease Activity Score-C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) < 2.6 and Disease Activity in Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA) score ≤ 3.3. Patients achieving MDA were compared to non-MDA to identify outcome predictor factors. Results Of the 75 patients treated with TNF-α blockers, at baseline no patients were in MDA or had a DAPSA score ≤ 3.3, while 25 (21.3%) had a DAS28-CRP score < 2.6. Five patients (6%) discontinued treatment because of side effects or inefficacy during followup. After 12 months, MDA was achieved in 46 patients (61.3%). No difference was found among the 3 anti-TNF-α drugs. Predictors for MDA were found to be male sex, high CRP, high erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and low Health Assessment Questionnaire. Conclusion In our prospective observational study, based on a clinical practice setting, MDA was achieved in 61.3% of patients treated with TNF-α blockers, identifying this as an achievable target for patients with PsA. Predictors of remission were also identified.

Objective. The primary objective of this retrospective study was to investigate the possibility of achieving partial remission (PR) in AS patients treated with anti-TNF-α antagonists, such as adalimumab (ADA), etanercept (ETA) and infliximab (INF), in a real clinical practice setting. Predictors of PR were also evaluated. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted in patients with AS treated with ADA, ETA and INF from 2000 to 2012. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were plotted to determine the rates of PR during the treatment with anti-TNF-α drugs. Results. A total of 283 patients with AS were treated with ADA (18.7%), ETA (26.8%) and INF (54.4%) as first anti-TNF-α drugs, with a PR rate of 57.6%. The probability of obtaining PR with ADA, ETA or INF was not significantly different among all anti-TNF-α patients. AS patients treated with a second anti-TNF-α drug had a PR rate of 40.5%, but after switching for lack of response, the probability of obtaining PR with a second anti-TNF-α drug was significantly lower from that of the first anti-TNF-α drug (P = 0.0039). The probability of obtaining PR in patients with enthesitis (P = 0.04) or psoriasis (P = 0.0016) or low levels of CRP (P = 0.0225) was significantly lower compared with that of patients without these manifestations at baseline. Conclusion. Our real-life study on PR confirmed the effectiveness of ADA, ETA or INF as first or second anti-TNF-α drugs. The presence at baseline of enthesitis or psoriasis or low CRP values yielded a lower probability of obtaining PR.

Introduction The EULAR group recently published the definition of difficult-to-treat (D2T) patients for rheumatoid arthritis. However, a similar definition is lacking for patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), in which its multi-domain expression may impact the treatment response. The aim of the study was to characterize the potential D2T PsA patients, to assess the risk factors, and to determine the burden of disease. Methods Retrospective analysis of a longitudinal cohort of PsA patients attending a tertiary care center. At each visit, the patients underwent a complete physical examination and the clinical/laboratory data were collected. Data on comorbidities with the assessment of different comorbidity indices were also collected. Disease activity was assessed by using the DAPSA score and the MDA. The PsAID and HAQ-DI were also collected. We use the previous identified definition of D2T patients, applied to our PsA group and modified for this study. Results A total of 106 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were evaluated. Of these, 36 (33.9%) patients fulfilled the criteria for the potential D2T patients. D2T patients showed a significantly higher BMI and higher prevalence of fibromyalgia. Furthermore, D2T patients showed a significantly higher median Functional Comorbidity Index and a significantly higher BSA, LEI, pain level, PsAID score, and HAQ-DI than non-D2T patients. Potential D2T patients also showed a significant delay in the time from diagnosis to first b/ts DMARDs treatment. Conclusions Our study firstly evaluated the presence of clinical characteristics of potential D2T patients and may contribute to future research on this intriguing aspect.