Tender joints in active PsA poorly reflect inflammation indicated by ultrasound and MRI

Key clinical point: Joint tenderness showed poor association with imaging signs of inflammation in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Major finding: Tender or swollen joint count showed no significant correlations with imaging inflammation sum-scores. Negligible to weak correlation (rho, −0.31 to 0.38) was observed between imaging inflammation sum-scores and the respective clinical joint counts, patient-reported outcomes, and composite scores with no consistently significant results.

Study details: This was a cross-sectional study of 41 patients with active PsA assessed by ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for joint swelling.

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Disclosures: The study was financially supported by AbbVie. Some of the authors reported receiving research grants, consulting fees, and speaker fees from various sources including AbbVie.

Source: Felbo SK et al. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021 Apr 24. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab384.