Psoriatic arthritis

Below is an inflammatory joint disease probably understood on the basis of an autoimmune disease that occurs in some patients with psoriasis (psoriasis ), and compared with other rheumatic diseases has some special features.

Thus, although all joints can be affected, typically there are but the end and middle joints of the hands and feet and large joints such as the knee and pelvic spine. Often the disease is detected only at the joints of a finger or toe ( " infestation in the beam "). The joint involvement is often asymmetric in contrast to rheumatoid arthritis, there are so on the right and left half of the body different joint regions affected.

In addition, the soft tissues adjacent to the joints may be affected, for example, the sinews and tendons, bursae, or tapes.

The disease is " seronegative ", it can changes in laboratory values ​​are missing, which are detectable in other rheumatic diseases, such as HLA -B27 and other rheumatoid factors. Where the probability is very high that HLA -B27 is positive.

In the psoriatic arthritis is occasionally a diagnostic exclusion, ie the acceptance of the disease when other inflammatory joint diseases not ( convincingly ) come into consideration. This is especially the case when lesions in the sense of psoriasis are not available, but, for example, a family history of psoriasis is known.