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Certain patients with Raynaud’s phenomenon fit 2013, not 1980, criteria for systemic sclerosis
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Some patients with Raynaud’s phenomenon met 2013 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism criteria for systemic sclerosis but did not meet 1980 American College of Rheumatology criteria, according to researchers at the Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea.
The researchers enrolled 64 patients (58 women) with Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) who had not been previously diagnosed with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and 60 patients previously diagnosed with SSc between November 2013 and May 2014.
Of the 64 patients with RP, 17 did not fulfill the 1980 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for SSc but were newly classified with SSc according to the ACR/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) criteria. Thirty-three of the 64 patients had other autoimmune diseases, including Sjögren’s syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, mixed connective tissue disease and rheumatoid arthritis, according to the researchers.
Patients with RP who had not been previously classified as having SSc by 1980 ACR criteria but met 2013 ACR/EULAR classification criteria had a mean score of 10.5 for the new criteria and were more likely to present with sclerodactyly, digital-tip ulcers, telangiectasia and abnormal nailfold capillaries and have the presence of anticentromere antibodies. Those who were not reclassified had a mean score of 6.1 on the 2013 ACR/EULAR criteria.
All patients who met 1980 ACR criteria for SSc met the 2013 ACR/EULAR criteria. Of newly classified patients, 19 patients who met 1980 ACR criteria had fingertip pitting scars, which none of the newly classified patients had. Anti-nuclear and anticentromere antibodies were more frequent in patients who did not meet 1980 ACR classification criteria, but anti-Scl-70 antibodies were only detected in patients who were previously classified, according to the researchers. - by Shirley Pulawski
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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