GRAPPA at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) 2008

Abstract

Launched in the summer of 2003, the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing research and understanding of the assessment and treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). This effort meets the need of helping rheumatologists recognize skin symptoms and helping dermatologists recognize joint symptoms for earlier diagnosis and more appropriate treatment of this disease, which affects millions of people throughout the world. GRAPPA members meet several times a year to discuss issues relevant to the organization’s objectives. There are 2 meetings a year adjacent to major rheumatology meetings: the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), which takes place in North America, and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), which takes place in Europe; and adjacent to major dermatology meetings: the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) in North America and the European Academy for Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) in Europe. Our report summarizes the recent GRAPPA meeting at EULAR, June 11, 2008, at the Paris Convention Center. This meeting was dedicated to defining psoriatic spondylitis. The prevalence of spinal involvement in patients with PsA has varied from 25% to 70%1. The wide variation is due to the lack of a common definition for psoriatic spondylitis. The agenda included presentations by a number of GRAPPA members followed by breakout groups and discussion. Philip Helliwell, of Leeds, UK, presented the background and issues to be addressed by the group. He pointed out that there have been 2 general approaches to the diagnosis of psoriatic spondylitis. One uses the criteria for ankylosing spondylitis (AS), which rely on the presence of signs and symptoms of inflammatory back pain and limitation of lumbar mobility as well as the presence of either bilateral grade 2 or unilateral grade 3 or 4 sacroiliitis. The other …