On the basis of 193 cases of psoriatic arthropathy, the authors sought the incidence and rapidity of onset of signs suggestive of this type of rheumatic disorder when there are radiological lesions of the fingers and toes. They conclude that when such radiological lesions exist, signs suggestive of psoriatic arthropathy are frequent (90%), early (85% of cases of psoriatic arthropathy present for less than 5 years) and predominantly involve the distal parts of the fingers and toes (85.5%). The authors consider that the signs which distinguish psoriatic arthropathy from rheumatoid arthritis are due to an extrasynovial process of enthesopathic origin.