17.12.2015
Summary
Persistent pain is a common symptom in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and may be caused by ongoing inflammation in joints, entheses and tendons. In some cases, ongoing pain may be due to “sensitization” of nerve cells involved in pain processing, which leads to increased pain perception even in the absence of disease activity. We aim to study pain mechanisms in relation to disease activity measured by clinical examination and ultrasound (US) of several musculoskeletal structures, in patients with PsA. Further, we intend to clarify if assessment of pain mechanisms and US are valuable tools to predict response to anti-inflammatory treatment in PsA.
Time plan
The study is enrolling PsA patients until February 2017
Investigators
Patient research partners and several health care specialists are involved in the project. Among these are international PsA specialists (Maarten de Wit and Philip Mease) along with rheumatologists, physiotherapists, a dermatologist and occupational therapists from both Gentofte Hospital and the Parker Institute.
Primary investigator: Pil Højgaard, MD, PhD student
Project/PhD Supervisors: Lars Erik Kristensen, Lene Dreyer.