Psoriatic Arthritis Mutilans: Clinical and Radiographic Criteria. A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE

Research on psoriatic arthritis mutilans (PAM), the most severe form of psoriatic arthritis, is impeded by the lack of an accepted classification criteria. We performed a systematic review of the literature to identify and synthesize clinical and radiographic features associated with the definition of PAM.

METHODS

A systematic literature search limited to human studies was conducted without language restriction. Abstracts were independently screened by 2 investigators and studies that reported information on patients with PAM were included. A standardized form was used to independently collect clinical and radiographic items defining PAM, patient's demographics, disease characteristics, and outcomes.

RESULTS

There were 8570 citations searched to identify 112 articles for full review and 58 articles for data abstraction. We identified 8 definitions of PAM that were used in 283 subjects with a mean age ± SD at diagnosis of PsA of 33.9 ± 8.2 years. Disease manifestations (prevalence) included dactylitis (29-64%), enthesitis (29-32%), axial disease (14-27%), and nail lesions (47%). PAM definitions include 1 (n = 2 studies) or more (n = 14 studies) joints involving interphalangeal, metacarpophalangeal, or metatarsophalangeal joints. The most prevalent PAM clinical features were digital telescoping (34%), digital shortening (33%), and flail joints (22%). The most prevalent PAM radiographic items were bone resorption (41%), pencil-in-cup change (16%), total joint erosions (14%), ankylosis (21%), and subluxation (7%).

CONCLUSION

We have identified 8 definitions of PAM, and synthesized the clinical and radiographic items that are important for the classification of PAM. We have established the groundwork for future development classification criteria for PAM.