OBJECTIVE:

To describe the clinical manifestations of PsA among Filipino patients seen in a tertiary care hospital.

ABSTRACT:

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory joint disease associated with psoriasis. The disease patterns vary among patients, with only very limited data describing such patterns among Asians. This study aimed to describe the clinical manifestations of PsA among Filipino patients seen in a tertiary care hospital. The data of 55 PsA patients (25, 45.5 percent males and 30, 54.5 percent females) were included. The mean age of onset of psoriasis was 36.5 +/- 14.5 years (range 3 - 70 years), and psoriatic arthritis was 40.6 +/- 14.4 years (range 12-76 years). Arthritis preceded the skin lesion in 8 (15.0 percent) patients by a mean interval of 36.6 +/- 44.1 months (range 1-108 months) and skin lesion antedated arthritis in 47 (85.0 percent) patients by a mean interval of 63.3 +/- 71.4 months (range 0-240 months). At disease onset, monoarthritis was found in 12 (22.0 percent), oligoarthritis in 36 (65.0 percent) and polyarthritis in 7 (13.0 percent) patients. Conclusion: Psoriatic arthritis in a Filipino group of patients affected both genders almost equally, with features typically that of an asymmetric oligoarthritis. Skin involvement preceded arthritis in the majority of patients.