Thermography in Assessing Treatment Response to Golimumab in Psoriatic Arthritis

Psoriatic Arthritis is a joint problem (arthritis) that often occurs with a skin condition called psoriasis. Psoriasis is a common skin problem that causes red patches on the body, and it is an on-going (chronic) inflammatory condition. About 1 in 20 people with psoriasis will develop arthritis with the skin condition. In most cases, psoriasis comes before the arthritis. The cause of Psoriatic Arthritis is not known. Psoriatic Arthritis can be treated using different types of drugs to reduce pain and swelling of the joints. New medicines that block an inflammatory protein called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) are being widely used for progressive Psoriatic Arthritis, as is the case of the drug Golimumab. Thermography is the use of images to study heat distribution in different parts of the body, and allows one to see variations in temperature, for example in detecting joint inflammation. This is a pilot study to evaluate whether thermography is able to reliably detect joint inflammation in Psoriatic Arthritis, and whether it is able to detect improvement or worsening in inflammation during medical treatment with Golimumab. This involves assessing disease activity using some questionnaires, examining of patient joints, performing blood tests, ultrasound and thermography.