Rationale (English)

The dream to switch off the activity of rheumatic diseases is coming true. The clinical remission is now a possible achievement in patients affected with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Spondyloarthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, and Systemic Vasculitis. The current challenge for the rheumatologists is understanding whether the disease remission can be also drug-free. To this purpose, we need to improve our insights into the mechanisms regulating the resolution of the inflammation and the autoimmune response, also in the light of the new drugs directed against novel molecular targets such as IL-23/IL-17/IL-22 pathways or JAK/STAT intracellular signaling. If we master these mechanisms we can make a great progress in treating our rheumatic patients.

The educational aims of this Congress are:

• Understanding the molecular pathways regulating the resolution of inflammation
• Identifying the clinical and immunological markers of rheumatic diseases
• Exploring the novel biologic pathways involved in the pathogenesis of Psoriatic Arthritis and Spondyloarthritis
• Assessing the efficacy of new therapeutic strategies of Psoriatic Arthritis and Spondyloarthritis
• Assessing the efficacy of new therapeutic strategies of Systemic Vasculitis
• Considering the safety data emerging from national biologic registers with a particular focus on the new drugs arrived onto the market.