Background: The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics and the systemic therapies given to a cohort of patients attending for the first time our tertiary psoriasis outpatient clinic.
Methods: Data were extracted from an electronic database where the patients, mostly eligible for systemic therapies, are consecutively recorded. Based on skin disease severity the subjects were classified into three groups: group 1, mild psoriasis (MP; Psoriasis Area Severity Index [PASI]≤5); group 2, mild-to-moderate psoriasis (MMP; 5<PASI<10); group 3, moderate-to-severe psoriasis (MSP; PASI>10).
Results: Of the 289 patients studied, 88 (30.4%) presented with MP, 91 (31.5%) with MMP, and 110 (38%) with MSP, 89 (30.8%) of whom were affected by psoriatic arthritis. Of the 289 patients, 267 (92.3%) were deemed eligible for a systemic treatment, and 228 (85.4%) of them started a systemic treatment as monotherapy. The therapies administered were as follows: cyclosporine to 65 (28.5%); methotrexate to 59 (25.8%); etanercept to 33 (44%); adalimumab to 25 (33.3%); ustekinumab to 17 (22.6%); acitretin to 29 (12.7%); golimumab to one (1.3%).
Conclusions: Our data show a composite distribution of patients eligible for a systemic therapy and attending for the first time our center. The traditional drugs were more frequently administered (67.1%) as compared to biological ones (32.9%).