Key clinical point: Targeted musculoskeletal ultrasound performed by trained dermatologists improved the accuracy of early psoriatic arthritis (PsA) diagnosis and may eventually decrease referral to rheumatologists.
Major finding: Use of musculoskeletal ultrasound changed the sensitivity and specificity of early PsA screening strategy from 88.2% (95% CI 58.1%-94.6%) and 54.4% (95% CI 44.8%-64.1%) to 70.6% (95% CI 38.4%-81.9%) and 90.4% (95% CI 83.9%-95.6%), respectively. Overall, 45 of the 46 patients were cleared of preliminary diagnosis-based PsA suspicion after musculoskeletal ultrasound.
Study details: This was a prospective study including 140 patients with psoriasis who presented to dermatologists with arthralgia, of which 19 patients were diagnosed with PsA by a rheumatologist.
Disclosures: This study was supported by Novartis Pharma. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Grobelski J et al. Prospective double-blind study on the value of musculoskeletal ultrasound by dermatologists as a screening instrument for psoriatic arthritis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022 (Dec 22). Doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keac702