Eur J Intern Med
Department of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, Kerckhoff-Klinik, Justus-Liebig University Gießen, Germany.
Published: January 2012
Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue diseases characterised by excessive thickening of the dermis in addition to affection of internal organs. Many patients experience musculoskeletal symptoms, but arthritis is still considered to be a rare manifestation. Therefore, we analysed a cohort of SSc patients in our department and related the findings to published data.
Methods: Clinical data on inpatients with SSc between February 2007 and February 2008 were analysed retrospectively for the presence of clinically overt and documented arthritis. In addition, X-rays of these patients were reassessed. A systematic literature search using PubMed was performed to find studies on arthritis in SSc patients; suitable studies were included in a meta-analysis based on the random-effect-model. The search terms were scleroderma, systemic sclerosis, arthritis, inflammatory joint disease, hand involvement, foot involvement and musculoskeletal findings in various combinations. Original articles not written in English and articles which were not dealing with arthritis in SSc patients were excluded from the study. We included articles in which the examined cohorts corresponds to the ACR- or LeRoy criteria for SSc and arthritis was diagnosed based on clinical and/or radiological data. All manuscripts were read and reviewed by two independent investigators.
Results: In our cohort of 58 patients, 31% had signs of arthritis, 19% clinically and 26% radiologically. In a meta-analysis of 7 studies, a prevalence of 26% (95% CI [16.7, 36.1]) for radiologically detectable arthritis in SSc patients was observed. For clinical arthritis, the prevalence was calculated to be 23% (95% CI [14.9, 30.9]). Of interest, no difference in the occurrence of arthritis in diffuse and limited SSc was observed radiologically (OR=1.1, 95% CI [0.47, 2.57]) or clinically (OR=1.11, 95% CI [0.6, 2.05]).
Conclusion: Arthritis is frequent manifestation of SSc. Its role in joint dysfunction has to be established in further studies.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2011.09.010 | DOI Listing |
Mod Rheumatol
January 2025
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
[Objective] To investigate differences in autoantibodies, clinical features, and long-term outcomes between juvenile- and adult-onset systemic sclerosis (SSc). [Methods] Autoantibodies and survival rates over a maximum of 20 years were retrospectively analyzed in 504 Japanese patients with SSc (juvenile-onset SSc, n=17; adult-onset SSc, n=487) using data from Kyoto University Registry. [Results] The autoantibodies observed were anti-topoisomerase-I (71% vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Exp Med
March 2025
Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a debilitating autoimmune disease that preferentially afflicts women. The molecular origins of this female bias are unclear. A new study of plasmacytoid dendritic cells from SSc patients by Du et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Rheumatol
January 2025
Jessica K. Gordon, Division of Rheumatology, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City, NY; Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York City, NY.
Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Scleroderma Skin Questionnaire (SSQ), a novel patient-reported outcome (PRO) to assess systemic sclerosis (SSc) related skin symptoms.
Methods: The SSQ was administered to 799 adults (mean age 52.7; 82% female) enrolled in the SSc Collaborative National Quality and Efficacy Registry (CONQUER).
J Rheumatol
January 2025
Florenzo Iannone, Rheumatology Unit - Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine of Jonian Area University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
Objective: Bosentan (BOS) is approved for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and preventing digital ulcers (DU) in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Our study aimed to evaluate whether BOS prescribed for DU could reduce the incidence of PAH in a large SSc cohort from the SPRING registry.
Methods: Patients with SSc from the SPRING registry, meeting ACR/EULAR 2013 classification criteria with data on PAH onset, DU status, BOS exposure, and at least a one-year follow-up between 2015 and 2020, and no known PAH at baseline were included.
Int J Gynaecol Obstet
January 2025
Delaware Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine of ChristianaCare, Newark, Delaware, USA.
Objective: To examine rates of postpartum hemorrhagic (PPH) morbidity among patients who did and did not have immediate skin-to-skin contact (SSC).
Methods: This study was a retrospective cohort of all non-anomalous, term singleton vaginal births at a Level IV center over 2 years. Exclusion criteria included COVID-19.
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!
© LitMetric 2025. All rights reserved.