Clinical features of late onset psoriatic arthritis.

The aim of this work is to compare the clinical and radiological manifestations of patients presenting late onset psoriatic arthritis (PsA) with early onset PsA. An overall of 96 consecutive PsA patients were studied over an 8-month-period. Clinical, laboratory and radiographic signs were assessed. Of the 96 patients studied, 84 had their earliest symptoms before the age of 60 (Group I) and 12 after it (Group II). In Group II the mean age was 65.7 years (range 60-73), the sex ratio (male/female) was 9/3. All patients were HLA-B27 negative; the clinical forms observed were: polyarticular (6 patients; 50%), oligoarticular (4 patients; 33%) and spondyloarthropathy (SpA) (2 patients; 17%). Only two patients had asymmetric sacroiliitis and three had history of dactylitis episodes. In conclusion, we found distinct clinical manifestations in late onset PsA. Peripheral affection was found predominant. The male/female ratio was higher than other age groups.