The transitioning from conventional therapy to biological treatment in psoriatic patients: STRATOS, a project of Marche Region.

Background: STRATOS is the acronym of the "STRuctured Approach to the Treatment of psOriatic patientS". The optimization of the psoriasis's therapeutic management is one of the most important goals for dermatologists. According to Mrowietz's consensus report, the transitioning from conventional therapy to biological therapy is mainly due to the lack/loss of efficacy and/or for safety reasons. The aim of the manuscript was to describe the principal results obtained by the Dermatologic Clinic of Polytechnic University of Marche Region and the Units of Dermatology of the Marche Region applying, in our regional reality, Mrowietz's protocol for the daily management of patients with moderate-to-severe plaque.
Methods: Forty-seven patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis have been monitored during the six-months study period.
Results: Psoriatic patients with diabetes showed further concomitant comorbidities compared to non-diabetics, as hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Moreover, based on WHO classification, overweight was diagnosed in female patients, whereas obesity was prevalent in male patients. This aspect confirms the strict link between the multifaceted aspects of psoriatic patient which is primarily related to the persistent low-grade inflammation. In our psoriatic group, 10% of monitored patients were affected by Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis.
Conclusions: The Mrowietz's transitioning protocol is a useful, reliable and feasible tool to manage the therapeutic iter of psoriatic patients in an Italian clinical setting also at regional level.