Fig. 1

a C-reactive protein (CRP) levels of patients (y-axis) with inflammatory systemic sclerosis (SSc) (n = 24, patients 1–24) and non-inflammatory SSc (n = 38, patients 25–62) over the course of time. b CRP levels of the intermediate group (n = 69, patients 1–69) over the course of time. x-axis = years. Each dot in the line represents one visit. CRP < 5 mg/l, gray; CRP ≥ 5 to < 10 mg/l, yellow; CRP ≥ 10 to < 20 mg/l, orange; CRP > 20 mg/l, red