Characteristics of patients with psoriatic arthritis in Korea: focusing on axial involvement

Background/Aims: We aimed to clarify the clinical characteristics of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in Korean patients focusing on PsA with axial involvement.Methods: A retrospective medical chart review was performed to identify PsA patients at a single tertiary center. Cases of AS patients with psoriasis were recruited from a prospective AS registry of the same center. Demographics, laboratory findings, and radiologic characteristics were assessed.Results: A total of 69 PsA patients were identified. In PsA patients, spondylitis (46.4%) was the most common form. Compared to AS patients with psoriasis, PsA patients with radiographic axial involvement were older (50.9 vs. 32.4 years; p < 0.001) and showed greater peripheral disease activity (peripheral arthritis 78.1 vs. 12.5%, p < 0.001; enthesitis 50.0 vs. 6.3%, p = 0.003). AS patients with psoriasis presented a higher rate of HLA-B*27 positivity (81.3 vs. 17.2%; p < 0.001) and a more frequent history of inflammatory back pain (100.0 vs. 75.0%; p = 0.039) than PsA patients with radiographic axial involvement. Significant proportions of PsA patients with radiographic axial involvement had cervical spine involvement (10/18, 55.6%) and spondylitis without sacroiliitis (10/23, 43.5%).Conclusions: We demonstrate that axial involvement is common in Korean PsA patients, and its characteristics can be distinct from those of AS.

Automated summary

We aimed to clarify the clinical characteristics of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in Korean patients, particularly focusing on PsA with axial involvement. Our study found that axial involvement is common in Korean PsA patients, and its characteristics can be distinct from those of ankylosing spondylitis (AS).