Multidisciplinary Rheuma–Derma Clinics: 5 Years of Experience at the San Marco Hospital in Catania

INTRODUCTION: Early psoriatic arthritis (PsA) diagnosis is critical to prescribe timely treatment to prevent the irreversible joint damage and the many other problems that patients with PsA experience. This retrospective study aimed to highlight the benefits of a Rheuma–Derma Clinic focused on the early diagnosis and prompt treatment of PsA with a shared approach among Italian psoriasis patients. Diagnosing PsA early is the main goal to reduce joint damage and disability in the patients affected. Studies describing the results of rheuma–derma clinics aimed to reach this goal emerged in the last decade. This study presents limitations and advantages typical of retrospective designs. METHODS: A Rheuma–Derma Clinic was created in 2017 at the Rheumatology Department of the Hospital Policlinico Gaspare Rodolico of the University of Catania in San Marco, Italy. This study compared the number of patients under disease-modifying antirheumatic treatment 5 years before and after the joint clinic was created. A rheumatologist and dermatologist simultaneously assessed patients with psoriasis and/or PsA to obtain a rapid multidisciplinary diagnostic approach and a shared therapeutic strategy. In addition, demographic, clinical, and clinimetrics data were collected. RESULTS: The number of patients with PsA receiving biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs increased 47% (from 255 to 374 patients) before and after the joint clinic was implemented. Likewise, those receiving conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs increased by 47% (from 367 to 539) as well. Additionally, for all the clinimetrics evaluated (DAS28, HAQ, BASDAI, DAPSA, PASI, PGA), there was an improvement over the 12 months under the Rheuma–Derma Clinic care. The measures that improved the most were DAPSA, PGA, PASI, and BASDAI. CONCLUSION: The implementation of the Rheuma–Derma Clinic was associated with an increase in the number of patients diagnosed, the number of patients with PsA receiving DMARD treatments, and improvements in clinimetrics among the study participants.