Psoriatic arthritis (patient information)

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Psoriatic arthritis

Overview

What are the symptoms?

What are the causes?

Who is at highest risk?

When to seek urgent medical care?

Diagnosis

Treatment options

Where to find medical care for Psoriatic arthritis?

What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?

Possible complications

Psoriatic arthritis On the Web

Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov

Images of Psoriatic arthritis

Videos on Psoriatic arthritis

FDA on Psoriatic arthritis

CDC on Psoriatic arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis in the news

Blogs on Psoriatic arthritis

Directions to Hospitals Treating Psoriatic arthritis

Risk calculators and risk factors for Psoriatic arthritis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Chandrakala Yannam, MD [2]

Overview

Psoriatic arthritis is an arthritis associated with psoriasis in some patients. Psoriatic arthritis typically affects joints of fingers and toes but also affects spine, and sacroiliac joints. The cause is not clearly understood. Genes, body defense mechanisms and environmental factors act as triggering agents for the disease development and progression. Signs and symptoms come and go, depending on the degree of tissue inflammation. When the disease is active, the following symptoms appear including joint pain, swelling, joint tenderness, morning stiffness, decreased range of motion, deformed nails, sausage shaped fingers, and pain at the sites of ligament insertion. Treatment opinion includes medicationsphysical therapy and surgery. The opinion depends on the severity of the disease. Prognosis of psoriatic arthritis varies from person to person. Some patients may get less aggressive over time, while others may lose their abilities to do daily tasks. Joint images such as x-ray and MRI, ultrasound may help track the progression of disease in the joints over time. 

Image by - By James Heilman, MD - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9445021

What are the symptoms of Psoriatic arthritis?

What causes Psoriatic arthritis?

  • The cause of psoriatic arthritis is not known, but genes, body defence mechanisms and environmental factors may play a role.

Who is at highest risk?

In general, people who have psoriasis have a higher rate of arthritis than the general population.

When to seek urgent medical care?

Call your doctor if your symptoms of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis progress.

Diseases that can present with similar symptoms are

Diagnosis

To come to a proper diagnosis, your doctor might run the following tests

Treatment options

Where to find medical care for Psoriatic arthritis?

Directions to Hospitals Treating Psoriatic arthritis

Prevention of psoriatic arthritis

The cause of psoriatic arthritis is not clear, therefore prevention of the disease is unknown.

What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?

Prognosis of psoriatic varies from person to person. The disease may get less aggressive over time in some patients. In other group, patients may lose their abilities to do daily tasks. Prognosis depends on:

Possible complications

Complication of  psoriatic arthritis involve multiple systems. Cardiac complications are increased risk for arrythmia, congestive heart failure, increased risk for atherosclerosis ,and myocardial infarction. Pulmonary complications include pleural effusion and pulmonary fibrosis. Rheumatological complications are joint deformities, nail damage and decreased quality of life. Eye complications such as uveitis, conjunctivitis. Nervous system complications like stroke and depression. GI tract complications include bleeding and cirrhosis. Other complications include metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia.

Sources

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000413.htm


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