Objective.The purpose of the ULISSE study was to evaluate the prevalence of clinical and ultrasonographic (US) entheseal involvement in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), psoriasis, and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).Methods.In this cross-sectional multicenter study, patients with PsA and psoriasis (not taking systemic therapy) and FMS underwent a clinical evaluation of the entheses, and a B-mode and power Doppler examination of 6 pairs of entheses.Results.The study analyzed 140 patients with PsA, 51 with psoriasis, and 51 with FMS. Clinical and US examinations were performed in 1960 and 1680 entheses in the PsA group, and 714 and 612 entheses both in the psoriasis group and in the FMS group. In both per-patient and per-enthesis evaluation, the frequency of entheseal tenderness was higher in patients with FMS (92% of the patients and 46% of the entheses, compared with 66%/23% in the PsA group and 59%/18% in the psoriasis group). With US examination, signs of entheseal involvement were more frequent in both the per-patient and per-enthesis evaluation in PsA and psoriasis (about 90% of patients in both the PsA and psoriasis groups and 75% of patients in the FMS group had at least 1 site affected, and 54%, 41%, and 27% of the pairs of entheses in, respectively, PsA, psoriasis, and FMS patients showed at least 1 enthesis involved).Conclusion.The ULISSE study indicated that enthesitis is a common feature in patients with PsA, those with psoriasis, and in those with FMS if only clinical examination is used. US entheseal assessment showed findings more consistent with the 3 disorders.

PDUS permits detection of structural and inflammatory abnormalities of the enthesis in AS and may complement the physical examination in order to better evaluate enthesitis.

Our data suggest that female sex was associated with a lower rate of response to treatment and of disease remission in patients with axSpA treated with antitumor necrosis factor-α drugs.

Our real-life study on PR confirmed the effectiveness of ADA, ETA or INF as first or second anti-TNF-α drugs. The presence at baseline of enthesitis or psoriasis or low CRP values yielded a lower probability of obtaining PR.

Patients with PsA receiving bDMARD are more likely to achieve a status of MDA and remission when compared with csDMARD. PASDAS ≤ 1.9 and MDA 7/7 seem to be stringent remission criteria.

In our prospective observational study, based on a clinical practice setting, MDA was achieved in 61.3% of patients treated with TNF-α blockers, identifying this as an achievable target for patients with PsA. Predictors of remission were also identified.

PtGA can estimate the LDA status and could be considered as a surrogate of outcome measures for the assessment of global disease activity in patients with PsA receiving anti-TNF therapy during routine clinical practice. These data suggest that PtGA might be used in outpatient settings, being a simple, reliable, and not time-consuming instrument.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the rate of power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) abnormalities at entheseal sites in patients with early psoriatic arthritis (PsA) naïve to traditional and biologic DMARDs and to compare the PDUS findings with clinical examination. PsA patients with early disease and naïve to traditional and biologic DMARDs were consecutively enrolled in this study. Patients underwent PDUS examination of the following bilateral entheseal sites: common extensor tendon at its insertion at the lateral humeral epicondyle; quadriceps tendon at its insertion at the superior pole of the patella; patellar tendon at its insertion at the tibial tuberosity; medial collateral ligament at its proximal insertion and Achilles tendon at its insertion at the calcaneus. The Leeds enthesitis index (LEI) was used to assess clinical entheseal involvement. Twenty-one early PsA patients completed the clinical and PDUS examinations. Clinical entheseal involvement was found in 9 (42.9 %) and PDUS abnormalities in 20 (95.5 %) of the 21 early PsA patients. Achilles tendon insertion was the site with the major entheseal abnormalities. Active (power Doppler positive) entheseal lesions were found in 4.7, 9.5, 14.3 and 14.3 % of patients at the lateral humeral epicondyle; quadriceps tendon, patellar tendon insertions, and Achilles tendon insertions, respectively. Concordance between clinical (LEI) and PDUS was poor. The present study confirms that PDUS allows detecting structural and inflammatory abnormalities of enthesis in early PsA patients. Our study shows that, in early disease, active abnormalities seem to have a low prevalence.