Background: Psoriatic arthritis is the most important "comorbidity" of psoriasis, which impacts the work of dermatologists in many ways.

Objective: The relevance of joint involvement in psoriasis patients for the practicing dermatologist is considered.

Methods: An analysis of publications listed in PubMed® (Bethesda, MD, USA) on the topic of psoriatic arthritis in English, German, or French was carried out.

Results: Psoriatic arthritis affects between 6 and 42% of psoriasis patients, often occurring several years after the onset of psoriasis of the skin. Questionnaires represent validated tools to screen for psoriatic arthritis. Timely initiation of treatment using disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) results in particularly good long-term outcomes, as structural joint damage and functional loss can be prevented. To achieve this goal, increasing numbers of systemic treatment methods are becoming available, which are also approved for the treatment of psoriasis.

Conclusion: In recent years it has become increasingly less complicated to effectively and safely treat all clinical facets of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis within the framework of monotherapy. Dermatologists are important sentinels when it comes to early diagnosis, which in turn is decisive for the long-term prognosis. The presence and extent of psoriatic arthritis are key criteria in the therapeutic decision-making of dermatologists.