Study: Enthesitis is Common in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis

A recent study found that enthesitis is common in patients with psoriatic arthritis, with the Achilles tendon, plantar fascia, and the lateral epicondyles being the most common tender sites.

The study included 803 patients with psoriatic arthritis between 2008 and 2014, and the mean age was 50.8 years. Researchers defined enthesitis using the Spondlyoarthritis Research Consortium of Canada enthesitis index to determine the presence of tender enthesis at one of 18 entheseal sites.
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In 803 patients, 281 had enthesitis, and 192 developed enthesitis during the follow-up, with the annual occurrence of 0.9% in patients. The mean number of entheseal sites was 2.03 per visit, and 48.4% of patients had 1, and 32.2% of patients had 2 tender sites.

“The 3 most common sites were at the insertions of the Achilles tendons and plantar fascia on the calcaneus, and the lateral epicondyles (24.2%, 20.8%, and 17.2%, respectively),” the researchers stated. Enthesitis was associated with higher actively inflamed joint count, tenosynovitis, dactylitis, more pain, and less clinical damage.

In addition, researchers found that higher BMI, more actively inflamed joints, and younger age were risk factors for developing this condition, but enthesitis resolved during a median time of 7.5 months without any changes in treatment for most patients.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Polachek A, Li S, Chandran V, and Gladman D. Clinical enthesitis in a prospective longitudinal psoriatic arthritis cohort: incidence, prevalence, characteristics and outcome [published online December 20, 2016]. Arthritis Care & Research. doi:10.1002/acr.23174.