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Objective The objective of this study was to compare the impact of psoriatic disease (psoriatic arthritis [PsA] and psoriasis) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on objective and subjective parameters of hand function. Methods Hand function was determined in this cross‐sectional study by 1) vigorimetric grip strength, 2) the Moberg Picking‐Up Test used for assessing fine‐motor skills, and 3) self‐reported hand function (Michigan Hand Questionnaire). Mixed‐effects linear regression models were used to test the relation of hand function with disease group, age, and sex. Results Two hundred ninety‐nine subjects were tested, 101 with RA, 92 with PsA, and 106 nonarthritic controls (51 with psoriasis and 55 healthy controls [HCs]). Regression analysis showed that hand function was influenced by age, sex, disease group, and hand dominance (P < 0.001 for all). The impact of PsA and RA on hand function was comparable and generally more pronounced in women. Both PsA and RA led to significantly enhanced age‐related loss of grip strength, fine‐motor skills, and self‐reported hand function in patients with PsA and RA compared with HCs. In addition, patients with psoriasis showed significant impairment of hand function compared with HCs. Conclusion RA and PsA have a comparable impact on the decline of strength, fine‐motor skills, and self‐reported function of the hand. Unexpectedly, patients with psoriasis also show impaired hand function that follows a similar pattern as observed in patients with PsA.

Objective To characterize in detail the structural bone changes associated with the deposition of monosodium urate crystals in the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP1) joint in patients with tophaceous gout. Methods Twenty patients with tophaceous gout and involvement of the MTP1 joint received both dual‐energy computed tomography (DECT) of the feet for the detection of tophi and high‐resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR‐pQCT) of the feet for the detection of bone erosions and osteophytes. Demographic and clinical data were collected. Tophi in DECT and erosions and osteophytes in HR‐pQCT were overlayed to define their anatomical relation. In addition, the feet of 20 sex‐ and age‐matched healthy controls were scanned to define the normal architecture of the MTP1 joint. Results Patients with gout had an increased number and extent of bone erosions and osteophytes compared with their healthy counterparts (erosions: 5 [0‐17] vs 1 [1‐2], 45.32 mm3 [7.26‐550.32] vs 0.82 mm3 [0.15‐21.8]; osteophytes: 10.5 [0‐26] vs 1 [0‐10], 4.93 mm [0.77‐7.19 mm] vs 0.93 mm [0.05‐7.61 mm]; all P < 0.001). The median tophi volume detected by DECT (0.12 mm3 [0.01‐2.53]) was highly associated with the total volume of erosions (r = 0.597, P = 0.005). Conclusion Gout patients show increased changes in their bone microarchitecture. The extent of uric acid deposition is positively correlated with the extent of bone loss at the MTP1 joint, highlighting the strong cohesion of inflammation and erosive changes.