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Table 1 Characteristics of SSc patients by DU status^

From: Digital ulcers in systemic sclerosis: their epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and associated clinical and economic burden

Patient characteristics (n = 1085)

DU

No DU

p value

Mean ± SD or n(%)

Mean ± SD or n(%)

Number of patients

527 (48.6%)

558 (51.4%)

 

Demographics

 Age on SSc onset*, years

43.6 ± 13.9

48.8 ± 14.0

< 0.001

 Disease duration at recruitment, years

12.2 ± 10.5

10.1 ± 9.9

0.001

 Gender female

432 (81.9%)

494 (88.5%)

0.002

 Male

95 (18.0%)

64 (11.5%)

0.002

 Disease subtype limited disease subtype

342 (65.%)

455 (81.8%)

< 0.001

 Diffuse disease subtype

184 (34.9%

101 (18.2%)

< 0.001

 Caucasian ethnicity

476 (95.9%)

502 (93.7%)

0.09

 Follow-up, years

5.2 ± 2.5

4.7 ± 2.4

0.001

 Alive at censorship

363 (78.1%)

412 (83.1%)

0.05

Autoantibody profile**

 Anti-centromere pattern ANA (n = 1059)

213 (41.2%)

268 (49.5%)

0.007

 Scl 70 + ve (n = 1046)

96 (18.9%)

50 (9.3%)

< 0.001

 RNA polymerase III + ve (n = 693)

57 (16.9%)

42 (11.8%)

0,05

Clinical manifestations***

 Telangiectasia ever

504 (95.6%)

452 (81.0%)

< 0.001

 Calcinosis ever

299 (56.7%)

179 (32.1%)

< 0.001

 Joint contractures

321 (60.9%)

153 (27.4%)

< 0.001

 GIT involvement

478 (90.7%)

456 (81.7%)

< 0.001

 SSc renal crisis

19 (3.6%)

14 (2.5%)

0.293

 PAH#

87 (16.5%)

65 (11.7%)

0.02

 ILD

185 (53.1%)

149 (26.7%)

0.003

Co-morbidities

 CVA

33 (6.3%)

30 (5.4%)

0.53

 Diabetes mellitus

37 (7.0%)

52 (9.3%)

0.17

 PVD

26 (4.9%)

6 (1.1%)

< 0.001

 Smoking history (current or ever)

275 (52.2%)

275 (52.2%)

0.19

Medications

 Calcium channel blocker (CCB)

414 (78.6%)

311 (55.7%)

< 0.001

PDE5 inhibitor

 Sildenafil

99 (18.8%)

46 (8.2%)

< 0.001

 Tadalafil

11 (2.1%)

10 (1.8%)

0.724

Endothelial receptor antagonist (ERA)

 Ambrisentan

30 (5.7%)

18 (3.2%)

0.05

 Bosentan

100 (18.9%)

81 (14.5%)

0.05

 Macitentan

17 (3.2%)

13 (2.3%)

0.37

 Iloprost

148 (28.1%)

10 (1.8%)

< 0.001

 Topical vasodilator

71 (13.5%)

10 (1.8%)

< 0.001

HRQoL

 Physical component score (PCS)

36.1 ± 10.4

39.2 ± 11.2

< 0.001

 Mental component score (MCS)

46.3 ± 12.8

46.1 ± 13.9

0.84

  1. Abbreviations: DU digital ulceration, PAH pulmonary arterial hypertension, ILD interstitial lung disease, GIT gastrointestinal tract, CVA cerebrovascular accident, PVD peripheral vascular disease, ACA anticentromere, Scl-70 antitopoisomerase-1, RNAP anti-RNA polymerase III, CCB calcium channel blockers, ERAs endothelial receptor antagonists, PDE5 phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors
  2. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL), was defined using the SF-36 study short form which provides a score range from 0 to 100.·Scores below 50 indicate worse HRQoL than the population normative score and every 10 points indicates 1 standard deviation.·These scores can be summarized into the physical component score (PCS) and mental component score (MCS), scores below 50 indicate worse HRQoL than the population normative score and every 10 points indicates 1 standard deviation
  3. ^DU status defined as the physicians reported presence of any history of DU
  4. *SSc onset defined as the first symptom of SSc (Raynaud phenomenon or other) *disease duration defined as from first non-Raynaud’s disease manifestation
  5. **n denotes the number of patients who underwent the bloods test thereby determining if they were positive or negative
  6. ***clinical manifestations defined as present if ever present from SSc diagnosis
  7. #PAH diagnosed on right heart catheterization (RHC) according to international criteria [11]
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Arthritis Research & Therapy

ISSN: 1478-6362

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