Persistence, effectiveness and safety of ustekinumab compared to TNF inhibitors in psoriatic arthritis within the Italian PsABio cohort.

OBJECTIVES: To compare real-world persistence, effectiveness and tolerability of ustekinumab versus TNF inhibitors (TNFi) in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). METHODS: One-year data from Italian subjects enrolled in the PsABio study (PsA patients receiving 1st- to 3rd-line treatment with ustekinumab or TNFi) were evaluated. Treatment persistence was analysed using Kaplan-Meier curves; hazard ratios (HR) of stopping treatment, and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI), were computed through Cox regression models. Proportions of patients reaching clinical effectiveness endpoints were analysed using logistic regression, including propensity score (PS) adjustment for imbalanced baseline covariates, and non-response imputation if treatment was stopped/switched. RESULTS: Among 222 participants with follow-up data (effectiveness set), 101 received ustekinumab and 121 TNFi. In the ustekinumab group, 74.3% continued treatment up to 12±3 months compared to 63.6% in the TNFi group. Ustekinumab showed better persistence than TNFi, overall and in specific subgroups (females, monotherapy without methotrexate, BMI <25 or >30 kg/m2, patients receiving ustekinumab as 2nd-line treatment instead of a second TNFi). Overall, the PS-adjusted HR of treatment discontinuation was 0.46 (95% CI: 0.26-0.82) for ustekinumab vs. TNFi. cDAPSA LDA/remission was achieved in 43.5% of ustekinumab and 43.6% of TNFi-treated patients, while MDA was achieved in 24.2% and 28.0% of patients, respectively. After PS adjustment, odds ratios of clinical effectiveness did not differ significantly. Both treatments showed an acceptable safety profile. CONCLUSIONS: This prospective, real-life study found a better persistence of ustekinumab than TNFi in PsA patients. At 1 year, both treatments showed similar effectiveness.

Systematic study on nail plate assessment: differences in nail plate shape, thickness, power Doppler signal and scanning approach.

Ultrasonography (US) of the nail is raising interest in the last years and its feasibility, quickness and amount of descriptive data may provide valuable information. Different authors presented several scanning approaches to nail complex in different pathological conditions, such as psoriasis, but no scanning protocol was ever proposed using healthy subjects as population of reference. The aim of the study was to establish a protocol for the US of nail plate and to assess whether the measurement of the nail plate is influenced by longitudinal vs transverse scan, sex, digit and hand dominance. Using high frequency probe and a Canon Aplio i800 machine, ultrasonographers took scans of nail plates of the hands from healthy subjects. Nail plate shape, thickness and power Doppler signal (PDUS) were evaluated and scans were taken both on longitudinal and transverse axis, at distal, middle and proximal portion of the nail plate or at a fixed angles of - 45°, 0° or + 45°. All the images were then revised and scored using a DICOM software, in order to allow good standards of accuracy and reproducibility. A total of 27 subjects (14 females and 13 males) were assessed. The measures did not result to differ in different portions or angles. Furthermore, no difference appears in sex or dominant vs not dominant hand. A decreasing and significant trend for nail plate thickness was found from the first to the fifth finger. Doppler signal was found in all but one subjects, with a range from almost absent to very evident. No difference was found between groups regarding PDUS. The data provided suggest that a proper scan protocol should include all the nails and evaluation should be done both on longitudinal and transverse axis. Since Doppler signal is highly variable in healthy subjects, its presence should be carefully considered as pathological finding. Observations provided by this study clarify important points of the scanning technique and solve doubts related to which nails should be scanned and where to evaluate quantitative parameters.

Higher body mass index is associated with a lower iloprost infusion rate tolerance and higher iloprost-related adverse events in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by vasospasm and microvascular involvement. Iloprost (ILO), a prostaglandin analogous, is used for the treatment of SSc-related Raynaud's phenomenon and digital ulcers. The suggested dose is 0.5-2 ng/kg/min for 6-8 h, and the maximum dose is decided upon the patient's tolerance. Objectives: This study aims to analyze ILO infusion tolerance and possible predictive factors in patients with SSc. Design: This is a retrospective observational study. Method: We evaluated 113 patients with SSc beginning ILO intravenous (IV) infusion treatment between 2004 and 2021. We assessed the maximum tolerated ILO IV infusion rate, the incidence of adverse events (AEs), and the need for symptomatic therapy during the dose-finding sessions. We collected relevant demographic and medical and employed generalized linear models to assess possible predictors of maximum tolerated ILO infusion rate and AEs and logistic regression to assess predictors of AEs. Results: The median ILO infusion rate at the end of the dose-finding process was 0.88 ng/kg/min [interquartile range (IQR) = 0.37]. We found a significant inverse correlation between ILO infusion rate and body mass index (BMI) at the beginning of treatment. BMI was negatively associated with ILO infusion rate (ß = -0.21, p = 0.02) after correction for relevant confounding factors. Overweight patients (BMI >26) presented a 13-fold increased risk of developing AEs during ILO titration [adjusted odds ratio = 13.979, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.359-82.845]. AEs during ILO titration occurred in 47.8% of patients, of whom 22.2% presented hypotension. Other AEs were headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and edema. Symptomatic therapy was needed in half of the patients at least once. Conclusion: This study showed that higher BMI was statistically associated with lower ILO infusion rate tolerance and higher AEs rate, underlying a possible BMI-dependent endothelial dysfunction. Individual ILO regimens still need to be tailored to the patient. Plain Language Summary: Introduction: Systemic sclerosis is a rare a rheumatic disease characterized by skin thickening, vasospasm, and digital ulcers (DUs), as well as other organs involvement. Iloprost, which is administered as intravenous infusion, is one of the main treatments for this disease, and it is effective in reducing vasospasm and the frequency of DUs. Even if there is a suggested dose range, the exact dose must be tailored on each patient, because the tolerance to the drug is variable. Tolerance is limited by dose-dependent unwanted effects, as headache, low blood pressure, dizziness, and sickness. This study aimed to identify possible predictors of such tolerance.Materials and Methods: We collected data from our patients with systemic sclerosis beginning the treatment with iloprost between January 2004 and November 2021 at our hospital facility in Verona, Italy, and analyzed different factors that could be associated with a better tolerance, as age, sex, disease duration, smoking habit, body mass index (a measure of body fatness), blood pressure, concomitant medications, and different patterns of the disease.Results: We found that a higher body mass index was associated with lower iloprost tolerance and higher adverse events rate in patients with systemic sclerosis, while we did not find a correlation with other factors. We believe overweight and obese patients (who have a higher body mass index) have a defect in the vasodilatation mechanism and can therefore be more susceptible to the effect of this medication.Conclusions: While preliminary, our results could provide a good starting point to develop a predictive tool to limit adverse events during this therapy.

Magnetic resonance imaging at 3.0-T in postmenopausal osteoporosis: a prospective study and review of the literature.

Objective: To promote advanced research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of and screening for osteoporosis by looking for correlations among the T-scores measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and the T1-weighted signal intensity values. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study of postmenopausal women with no contraindications to MRI and no history of cancer who underwent DEXA within 30 days before or after the MRI examination. A 3.0-T scanner was used in order to acquire sagittal sequences targeting the lumbar spine. Results: Thirteen women underwent DEXA and MRI. In two cases, the MRI was discontinued early. Therefore, the final sample comprised 11 patients. The ADC values and T1-weighted signal intensity were found to be higher in patients with osteoporosis. However, among the patients > 60 years of age with osteoporosis, ADC values were lower and T1-weighted signal intensity was even higher. Conclusion: It is unlikely that MRI will soon replace DEXA for the diagnostic workup of osteoporosis. Although DWI and ADC mapping are useful for understanding the pathophysiology of osteoporosis, we believe that T1-weighted sequences are more sensitive than is DWI as a means of performing a qualitative analysis of vertebral alterations.

Objetivo: Promover pesquisas avançadas usando ressonância magnética (RM) no diagnóstico e rastreamento de osteoporose, procurando correlações entre os escores T medidos por absorciometria de raios-X de dupla energia (DEXA), valores de coeficiente de difusão aparente (ADC) na difusão e valores de intensidade de sinal ponderado em T1. Materiais e Métodos: Estudo prospectivo de mulheres na pós-menopausa sem contraindicações para RM e sem histórico de câncer que foram submetidas a DEXA 30 dias antes ou após o exame de RM. Um scanner 3.0-T foi utilizado para adquirir sequências sagitais direcionadas à coluna lombar. Resultados: Treze mulheres foram submetidas a DEXA e RM. Em dois casos, a RM foi interrompida precocemente. Portanto, a amostra final foi composta por 11 pacientes. Os valores de ADC e intensidade de sinal ponderado em T1 foram mais elevados nas pacientes com osteoporose. No entanto, no subgrupo de pacientes > 60 anos de idade com osteoporose, os valores de ADC foram menores e a intensidade do sinal ponderado em T1 foi ainda maior. Conclusão: É improvável que a RM substitua DEXA para a investigação diagnóstica da osteoporose no futuro próximo. Embora a difusão e o mapeamento ADC sejam úteis para a compreensão da fisiopatologia da osteoporose, acreditamos que as sequências ponderadas em T1 são mais sensíveis do que a difusão como meio de realizar uma análise qualitativa das alterações vertebrais.

Magnetic resonance imaging at 3.0-T in postmenopausal osteoporosis: a prospective study and review of the literature / Ressonância magnética de 3.0-T na osteoporose pós-menopausa: estudo prospectivo e revisão da literatura

Abstract Objective: To promote advanced research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of and screening for osteoporosis by looking for correlations among the T-scores measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and the T1-weighted signal intensity values. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study of postmenopausal women with no contraindications to MRI and no history of cancer who underwent DEXA within 30 days before or after the MRI examination. A 3.0-T scanner was used in order to acquire sagittal sequences targeting the lumbar spine. Results: Thirteen women underwent DEXA and MRI. In two cases, the MRI was discontinued early. Therefore, the final sample comprised 11 patients. The ADC values and T1-weighted signal intensity were found to be higher in patients with osteoporosis. However, among the patients > 60 years of age with osteoporosis, ADC values were lower and T1-weighted signal intensity was even higher. Conclusion: It is unlikely that MRI will soon replace DEXA for the diagnostic workup of osteoporosis. Although DWI and ADC mapping are useful for understanding the pathophysiology of osteoporosis, we believe that T1-weighted sequences are more sensitive than is DWI as a means of performing a qualitative analysis of vertebral alterations.

Resumo Objetivo: Promover pesquisas avançadas usando ressonância magnética (RM) no diagnóstico e rastreamento de osteoporose, procurando correlações entre os escores T medidos por absorciometria de raios-X de dupla energia (DEXA), valores de coeficiente de difusão aparente (ADC) na difusão e valores de intensidade de sinal ponderado em T1. Materiais e Métodos: Estudo prospectivo de mulheres na pós-menopausa sem contraindicações para RM e sem histórico de câncer que foram submetidas a DEXA 30 dias antes ou após o exame de RM. Um scanner 3.0-T foi utilizado para adquirir sequências sagitais direcionadas à coluna lombar. Resultados: Treze mulheres foram submetidas a DEXA e RM. Em dois casos, a RM foi interrompida precocemente. Portanto, a amostra final foi composta por 11 pacientes. Os valores de ADC e intensidade de sinal ponderado em T1 foram mais elevados nas pacientes com osteoporose. No entanto, no subgrupo de pacientes > 60 anos de idade com osteoporose, os valores de ADC foram menores e a intensidade do sinal ponderado em T1 foi ainda maior. Conclusão: É improvável que a RM substitua DEXA para a investigação diagnóstica da osteoporose no futuro próximo. Embora a difusão e o mapeamento ADC sejam úteis para a compreensão da fisiopatologia da osteoporose, acreditamos que as sequências ponderadas em T1 são mais sensíveis do que a difusão como meio de realizar uma análise qualitativa das alterações vertebrais.

Association Between Short-term Exposure to Environmental Air Pollution and Psoriasis Flare.

IMPORTANCE: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease with a relapsing-remitting course. Selected environmental factors such as infections, stressful life events, or drugs may trigger disease flares. Whether air pollution could trigger psoriasis flares is still unknown. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether short-term exposure to environmental air pollution is associated with psoriasis flares. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This observational study with both case-crossover and cross-sectional design retrospectively analyzed longitudinal data from September 2013 to January 2020 from patients with chronic plaque psoriasis consecutively attending the outpatient dermatologic clinic of the University Hospital of Verona. For the case-crossover analysis, patients were included who had at least 1 disease flare, defined as Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) increase of 5 or greater between 2 consecutive assessments in a time frame of 3 to 4 months. For the cross-sectional analysis, patients were included who received any systemic treatment for 6 or more months, with grade 2 or higher consecutive PASI assessment. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: We compared the mean and cumulative (area under the curve) concentrations of several air pollutants (carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, other nitrogen oxides, benzene, coarse particulate matter [PM; 2.5-10.0 µm in diameter, PM10] and fine PM [<2.5 µm in diameter, PM2.5]) in the 60 days preceding the psoriasis flare and the control visits. RESULTS: A total of 957 patients with plaque psoriasis with 4398 follow-up visits were included in the study. Patients had a mean (SD) age of 61 (15) years and 602 (62.9%) were men. More than 15 000 measurements of air pollutant concentration from the official, open-source bulletin of the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) were retrieved. Among the overall cohort, 369 (38.6%) patients with psoriasis flare were included in the case-crossover study. We found that concentrations of all pollutants were significantly higher in the 60 days before psoriasis flare (median PASI at the flare 12; IQR, 9-18) compared with the control visit (median PASI 1; IQR, 1-3, P < .001). In the cross-sectional analysis, exposure to mean PM10 over 20 µg/m3 and mean PM2.5 over 15 µg/m3 in the 60 days before assessment were associated with a higher risk of PASI 5 or greater point worsening (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.55; 95% CI, 1.21-1.99; and aOR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.0-1.57, respectively). Sensitivity analyses that stratified for trimester of evaluation, with various lag of exposure and adjusting for type of treatment, yielded similar results. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The findings of this case-crossover and cross-sectional study suggest that air pollution may be a trigger factor for psoriasis flare.

Biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs may mitigate the risk of psoriatic arthritis in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in patients with psoriasis who had received a continuous treatment with biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) compared with phototherapy. METHODS: A retrospective non-randomised study involving patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, who were prescribed at least 5 years of bDMARDs or at least three narrow-band ultraviolet light B (nb-UVB) phototherapy courses, and did not have a diagnosis of PsA at enrolment. Development of PsA in each patient was assessed by a rheumatologist according to the Classification for Psoriatic Arthritis criteria. The annual and cumulative incidence rate of PsA was estimated by using an event per person-years analysis. Cox proportional hazards models were undertaken to assess the hazard risk (HR) of PsA after adjustment for confounders. RESULTS: A total of 464 psoriatic patients (bDMARDs, n=234 and nb-UVB, n=230) were followed between January 2012 and September 2020 (corresponding to 1584 and 1478 person year of follow-up for the two groups, respectively). The annual incidence rate of PsA was 1.20 cases (95% CI 0.77 to 1.89) versus 2.17 cases (95% CI 1.53 to 3.06) per 100 patients/year in the bDMARDs versus phototherapy group, respectively (HR 0.29, 0.12-0.70; p=0.006). The variables independently associated with higher risk of PsA were older age (adjusted HR 1.04, 1.02-1.07), nail psoriasis (adjusted HR 3.15, 1.63-6.06) and psoriasis duration >10 years (adjusted HR 2.02, 1.09-3.76); notably, bDMARDs treatment was associated with a lower risk of incident PsA (adjusted HR 0.27, 0.11-0.66). CONCLUSIONS: bDMARDs treatment may delay or reduce the risk of incident PsA in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis.

Predictors, Risk Factors, and Incidence Rates of Psoriatic Arthritis Development in Psoriasis Patients: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Agreement on how to identify psoriasis (PsO) patients at risk of developing psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To identify predictors, risk factors and incidence rate (IR) of PsA development in PsO patients through a systematic literature review (SLR) and meta-analyses (MA). METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched. Cohort studies were used to assess the predictors, while case-control studies for PsA risk factor determination. RESULTS: We screened 4698 articles for eligibility, and 110 underwent a full reading and 26 were finally included. Among skin and nail phenotypes, PsO severity and nail pitting were selected as predictors of PsA development. Furthermore, PsO patients with arthralgia (pooled RR 2.15 [1.16; 3.99]) and/or with imaging-MSK inflammation (pooled RR 3.72 [2.12; 6.51]) were at high risk of PsA. Higher categories of BMI and a family history of PsA were other predictors. In outpatient-based cohort studies, the IR of PsA per 100 patient-years varied from 1.34 to 17.4. LIMITATIONS: Despite the strength of the overall results, the heterogeneity and the number of the cohort studies could be considered a limitation. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a tentative profile of the PsO patient at risk of PsA and will help the design of PsA prevention trials.

Tumour necrosis factor inhibitors reduce aortic stiffness progression in patients with long-standing rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND: Aortic stiffness index (AoSI) has to be considered a proxy outcome measure in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to comparatively describe AoSI progression in two groups of RA patients on long-term treatment with conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) with or without tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi). METHODS: AoSI was evaluated by Doppler echocardiography at the level of the aortic root, using a two-dimensional guided M-mode evaluation. Eligible participants were assessed at baseline and after 12 months. Changes in serum lipids, glucose and arterial blood pressure were assessed. All patients who did not change DMARD treatment during follow-up were consecutively selected for this study. RESULTS: We included 107 (64 TNFi and 43 csDMARDs) RA patients. Most patients (74%) were in remission or low disease activity and had some CVD risk factors (45.8% hypertension, 59.8% dyslipidaemia, 45.3% smoking). The two groups did not differ significantly for baseline AoSI (5.95±3.73% vs 6.08±4.20%, p=0.867). Follow-up AoSI was significantly increased from baseline in the csDMARDs group (+1.00%; p<0.0001) but not in the TNFi group (+0.15%, p=0.477). Patients on TNFi had significantly lower follow-up AoSI from baseline than the csDMARDs group (-1.02%, p<0.001; ANCOVA corrected for baseline AoSI, age and systolic blood pressure). Furthermore, follow-up AoSI was significantly lower in TNFi than in csDMARDs users with an increasing number of CVD risk factors. CONCLUSION: Long-term treatment with TNFi was associated with reduced aortic stiffness progression in patients with established RA and several CVD risk factors.

Sex-Specific Association of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy With Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objectives: Clinical expression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) varies by gender, but whether cardiovascular disease (CVD) is gender related in RA is unknown. Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) is a hallmark of CVD in RA patients. We investigated whether the association of LVH with RA is gender driven. Methods: Consecutive outpatients with established RA underwent echocardiography with measurement of LVH at baseline and one follow-up. All participants had no prior history of CVD or diabetes mellitus. We assessed CVD risk factors associated with LVH at follow-up, including sex, age, arterial blood pressure, and body mass index (BMI). We also evaluated inflammatory markers, autoimmunity, disease activity, and the use of RA medications as predictors of LVH. Results: We recruited 145 RA patients (121 females, 83%) and reassessed them after a median (interquartile range) of 36 months (24-50). At baseline, women were more dyslipidemic but otherwise had fewer CVD risk factors than men, including less prevalent smoking habit and hypertension, and smaller waist circumference. At follow-up, we detected LVH in 42/145 (44%) RA patients. LV mass significantly increased only in women. In multiple Cox regression analysis, women with RA had the strongest association with LVH, independently from the presence of CVD risk factors (OR, 6.56; 95% CI, 1.34-30.96) or RA-specific characteristics (OR, 5.14; 95% CI, 1.24-21.34). BMI was also significantly and independently associated with LVH. Conclusion: Among established RA patients, women carry the highest predisposition for LVH.

The troubling liaison between cancer and metabolic syndrome in chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

BACKGROUND: Several studies on community populations found that metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with higher risk for total incident cancer with a predisposition for specific types of cancer. These findings have never been analyzed in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMD). We assessed prevalence/incidence and factors related to the development of cancer in a large cohort of these patients and evaluate whether MetS and its components were associated with cancer independent of traditional markers of inflammation. METHODS: Between March 2014 and April 2016, 474 patients with RMD involved in a cardiovascular primary prevention program were consecutively recruited into this ambispective (combination of retrospective/prospective) study. They underwent clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic evaluations. MetS was diagnosed according to the ATPIII criteria. RESULTS: Duration of follow-up was 42 [18-60] months. Patients with a diagnosis of cancer (made before recruitment or during follow-up) were 46 (9.7%). Cancer was diagnosed in 22/76 patients (29%) with MetS and in 24/398 patients (6%, p < 0.001) without MetS; nearly two thirds of malignancies belonged to those traditionally related to MetS. MetS was the strongest cancer risk factor. Cancer was positively associated with the number of MetS components identified in each patient. Beyond MetS, cancer was associated to older age and increased inflammatory disease activity; this information allowed to build a simple performance indicator highly sensitive for cancer development. CONCLUSION: In light of our results, an increasingly accurate assessment of MetS would be required in patients with RMD as potential measure of clinical outcomes including the risk of cancer.

Is central sensitization an important determinant of functional disability in patients with chronic inflammatory arthritides?

BACKGROUND: Central sensitization (CS) is a condition characterized by a disproportionate response to pain stimuli. We sought to investigate the prevalence of CS in patients with inflammatory arthritides and its association with measures of disease activity and functional disability. METHODS: We conducted an observational retrospective study in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. We administered to all the subjects in the study the CS inventory (CSI), a questionnaire that has been used for the diagnosis of CS. Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected as well as measures or disease activity [i.e. Simple Disease Activity Index, Disease Activity Score in PsA (DAPSA)] and functional disability [Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI)]. Patients with fibromyalgia were excluded from the analyses. The primary outcome measure was the presence of functional disability as assessed by HAQ-DI >1. RESULTS: We enrolled 150 patients with inflammatory arthritides (78 PsA and 72 RA). Prevalence of CS was observed in 35.3% of the overall sample (29% in RA, 42.9% in PsA). Binary logistic regressions showed a strong, independent and linear association between functional disability and CS in both PsA and RA patients. The strength of this association was greater in PsA than in RA. CONCLUSION: CS is an important determinant of functional disability in patients with chronic inflammatory arthritides. PsA appeared to be more vulnerable to CS. In addition, in the presence of CS, DAPSA did not adequately capture the occurrence of functional disability. Therefore, special attention should be paid to PsA patients, in whom the concomitant diagnosis of CS should be routinely ruled out.

Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) in Type 2 Diabetes: A New Imaging Possibility and a New Biomarker.

We performed a cross-sectional study to investigate the prevalence of Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) through Dual-Energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) Vertebral Fracture Assessment (VFA) in a group of post-menopausal women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). We also explored several biomarkers of bone turnover metabolism, including Wnt pathway modulators. DXA-VFA was performed to detect the presence of DISH. Serum samples were collected from all patients at the time of study recruitment. 16 different serum biomarkers were tested between the two subgroups. Given the exploratory nature of the study, we did not adjust for multiplicity. At VFA analysis, among 96 individuals enrolled in the study 20 (20.8%) showed features of DISH. No statistically significant difference was found for BMD values, between the DISH and NO-DISH subgroups. Concerning blood biomarkers, DISH patients showed a significant difference only in the sclerostin serum levels (32 vs 35.5 pmol/L, for the DISH and NO-DISH subgroup, respectively; p = 0.010). After adjustment for confounding factors, sclerostin serum levels remained significantly lower in DISH group (p = 0.002). We demonstrated a non-negligible prevalence of DISH in a population of post-menopausal women affected by T2DM and suggested low serum sclerostin as a possible key feature associated with DISH presence. In addition, we propose DXA-VFA analysis, whose radiation dose is considerably lower than conventional radiography, as a viable diagnostic and prognostic mean to obtain data not only on bone health, but also for the screening for DISH in subjects at risk.

Clinical profile and outcome of patients with chronic inflammatory arthritis and metabolic syndrome.

Systemic chronic inflammation may favor the onset of metabolic syndrome (MetS) which represents a risk factor for CV events. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are disorders with high prevalence of MetS. We assessed the factors associated with MetS and its prognostic role in non-selected RA/AS/PsA patients. Between March 2014 and April 2016, 458 patients (228 RA, 134 PsA, 96 AS) selected for a primary prevention program for cardiovascular diseases were analyzed. Primary and co-primary end points were a composite of all-cause death/all-cause hospitalization and CV death/CV hospitalization, respectively. MetS was diagnosed according to the IDF Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention. Patients were divided into MetS + (73 = 16%) and MetS - (385 = 84%). At multivariate logistic analysis, cancer, moderate/high disease activity, higher LV mass (LVM) and degree of LV diastolic dysfunction were independently associated with MetS. At 36-month follow-up, the event rate for primary/co-primary end point was 52/15% in MetS + vs 23/7% in MetS - (both p < 0.001). At multivariate Cox regression analysis, MetS was related to primary end point (HR 1.52 [CI 1.01-2.47], p = 0.04) together with higher LVM, disease duration and higher prevalence of biologic DMARDs refractoriness, and to co-primary end point (HR 2.05 [CI 1.16-3.60], p = 0.01) together with older age and higher LVM. The RA/AS/PsA phenotype MetS + is a subject with moderate/high disease activity, LV structural and functional abnormalities at increased risk for cancer. MetS + identifies RA/AS/PsA patients at higher risk for CV and non-CV events, independently of traditional CV risk factors analyzed individually and traditional indexes of inflammation.

Sensitivity to change and clinical correlations of the novel DACtylitis glObal Sonographic (DACTOS) score in psoriatic arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to assess the performance of the DACTOS (DACtylitis glObal Sonographic) score in a PsA dactylitis clinical setting. In particular, we evaluated the ability of DACTOS to identify the affected fingers, its sensitivity to change after treatment, the correlations between DACTOS and clinical parameters, and the capacity of the score to identify the treatment responders. METHODS: Forty-six consecutive patients with symptomatic PsA hand dactylitis were enrolled. A total of seventy-three dactylitic digits were evaluated clinically and sonographically before and after treatment in this observational and prospective study. Clinical assessment included the Leeds Dactylitis Index-basic (LDI-b) score and visual analogue scales for pain (VAS-p) and functional impairment (VAS-FI). Sonographic lesions were investigated using high-frequency ultrasound with grey scale and power Doppler features according to the DACTOS score. Correlations between the DACTOS score and the clinical parameters were assessed at baseline, 1 month (T1) and 3 months (T3). RESULTS: We observed significant improvements in all of the assessed clinical parameters and the DACTOS scores after dactylitis treatment. There was a statistically significant correlation between the variation of all clinical parameters (VAS-p, VAS-FI and LDI-b) and the DACTOS score at T1 and T3 evaluations. We found statistically significant differences in the DACTOS score between clinical responder and non-responder groups (P < 0.001) and between clinical remission and non-remission groups (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The DACTOS score performs well in real-life clinical settings in terms of sensitivity to change and correlations with clinical features in PsA dactylitis.

Recent Advances in Imaging for Diagnosis, Monitoring, and Prognosis of Psoriatic Arthritis.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory condition characterized by a strong heterogeneity and multifaceted behavior. PsA manifests in two types-axial and peripheral-which may be present at the same time. Peripheral manifestations can be further divided into the articular (arthritis) and extra-articular (i.e., enthesitis and dactylitis) subgroups. In such a complex disease, imaging is often required to characterize the type of involvement and to evaluate the radiological damage and progression of PsA. In addition, imaging plays a pivotal role in clinical practice; that is, for axial involvement. Conventional radiology has been the main standard of reference for many years. However, in recent years, there has been growing interest in different imaging modalities, such as ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). All these techniques play a role in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with PsA and cover all the types of the disease. US and MRI have good sensitivities and specificities for detecting synovitis, and this may be helpful for differential diagnosis with other musculoskeletal diseases and useful in the early or preclinical phases of the disease. However, US is not useful in the diagnosis of axial PsA. In addition, other modalities have been investigated in the field of PsA imaging. Computed tomography (CT), in particular, dual energy-CT and high-resolution peripheral CT (HRpQ-CT) might play an important role in the assessment of bone damage, erosions, and new bone formation. Regarding advanced functional imaging, FDG PET/CT is another interesting technique for exploring disease activity.