Background/Purpose: An interdisciplinary approach involving dermatologists and rheumatologists is required for the management of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The purpose of our study was to examine dermatological-rheumatological therapeutic management of patients with psoriasis and PsA.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was performed of all dermatology-rheumatology consultations from April 1^st, 2016 to January 31st, 2020. From March 1^st, 2018 a specialized interdisciplinary PsA center was established. Clinical data including baseline characteristics, treatment status and treatment outcome were collected and analyzed. A follow-up was performed until January 27th, 2021.

Results: A total of 404 consultations were studied, including 218 psoriasis patients and 103 PsA patients. 34.4 percent of psoriasis patients and 69.9 percent of PsA patients switched systemic medication following consultation. Most of them began systemic medication, this was twice as common in PsA patients compared to psoriasis patients (Psoriasis: 32.11 %, PsA: 65.05 %). In this context, methotrexate (40.78%), oral glucocorticosteroids (19.42 %), and IL-17 inhibitors (9.71 %) were the most commonly prescribed medications in PsA (Figure 1 and 2). This close collaboration lead to a long-lasting remission time of musculoskeletal complaints (at least 22.5 (IQR:3.0-53.0) median months) and skin lesions (at least 22.0 (IQR:3.0-53.0) median months) in over 60 % of PsA patients (Figure 3).

Conclusion: We were able to demonstrate that close collaboration between dermatology and rheumatology can result in improved therapeutic management of psoriasis and PsA patients with a high degree of achieved clinical remission.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/therapeutic-management-and-clinical-remission-in-a-specialized-dermatological-rheumatological-center-for-patients-with-psoriasis-and-psoriatic-arthritis/