Update on treatment of psoriatic arthritis

Some of this past year's key papers or abstracts on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) assessment and treatment are reviewed in this paper. Treatment begins with identification of the PsA patient. Several screening questionnaires have been developed to be used in dermatology and primary care settings to identify which patients with psoriasis have developed PsA as opposed to other common musculoskeletal problems, such as osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, thus increasing case-finding and targeting referral. PsA can present in a heterogeneous manner, involving arthritis, enthesitis, dactylitis, spondylitis, and skin and nail disease. Measures of these individual domains have been developed for use in clinical trials and improved PsA-specific composite measures of these domains are being evaluated as well. A quantitative therapy target, Minimal Disease Activity criteria, has been developed by the GRAPPA group. Treatment recommendations have been published by EULAR and GRAPPA. Obesity is a risk factor for the development of PsA and may adversely influence treatment outcomes. Although pharmacologic treatment often begins with methotrexate, a recent study does not provide clear evidence of its effectiveness. Anti-TNF therapies remain the gold standard of effectiveness. New therapeutic options are potentially emerging including ustekinumab, abatacept, several IL-17 inhibitors, apremilast, JAK inhibitors, and possibly IL-6 inhibitors.