Psoriatic arthritis and temporomandibular joint involvement - literature review with a reported case

In addition to psoriasis, between 5% and 24% of patients will develop psoriatic arthritis simultaneously after or even prior to skin manifestations. Psoriatic arthritis belongs to the group of seronegative spondyloarthritis. Collaboration between a dermatologist and a rheumatologist plays a more important role in cases where there is a complete absence of clinical signs of psoriasis. Since rheumatic diseases may also involve the temporomandibular joints (TMJ), psoriatic arthritis can cause problems that are an aspect of systemic disease. In general, the clinical and radiological description of a population of patients suffering from psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis does not mention TMJ involvement. However, as is the case with intraoral psoriasis, psoriatic changes to the TMJ also show characteristic signs of erosion, deplaned condyles, and articular effusion. Magnetic resonance imaging has shown itself to be the gold standard in the diagnostics of joints afflicted by psoriatic arthritis and TMJ disorders, regardless of the existence of a systemic disease. This paper aims to present a review of the relevant literature describing different epidemiological, clinical, and radiological characteristics of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, with emphasis on the involvement of TMJs in the general manifestation of the disease, illustrated by a description of the clinical case of a 77-year-old female patient.