Medical imaging examination in psoriasis and early psoriatic arthritis patients: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Psoriatic arthritis appears in one in four skin psoriasis patients. Early detection of the presence of joint involvement and early interception of its developments may minimize long-term functional disability, and the radiological methods may be a perfect choice. To summarize and compare different imaging methods for diagnosing early-stage psoriatic arthritis and determine the necessity of joint examination in all psoriasis patients, several electronic databases, including MEDLINE and EMBASE, were searched for English language studies. A specific selection criterion followed the retrieval of studies. Thirteen studies were finally enrolled in the meta-analysis, eight of which compared the bone changes presentat on medical imaging examination between psoriasis patients without psoriatic arthritis and healthy people; three studies focused on differences between psoriatic arthritis patients and free joint involvement psoriasis patients shown on medical imaging tests. Medical imaging examination, including ultrasound (US), high-resolution peripheral quantitative CT scans (HR-pQCT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), can be good choices for detecting the start of asymptomatic joint inflammation in psoriasis patients, which is essential to early detection and interception of joint damage to lower joint deformities and improve the future quality of life for patients. Additionally, the examination for psoriasis patients with arthralgia is also highly recommended.