|
Characteristics of patients with systemic sclerosis |
|
| Disease characteristic |
N = 49 |
|
|
|
| Systemic sclerosis subset, number (percentage) |
|
| Diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis |
4 (8%) |
| Limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis |
45 (92%) |
| Disease duration, years |
6 (2–12) |
| Raynaud phenomenon duration, years |
11 (6–25) |
| Antibody, number (percentage) |
|
| Scl70 (topoisomerase 1) |
4 (8%) |
| Centromere |
22 (45%) |
| Nuclear ribonucleoprotein |
2 (4%) |
| Antinuclear antibodies, not specified |
17 (35%) |
| None |
4 (8%) |
| EScSG disease activity index |
0.5 (0.5–1.5) |
| Medsger severity scale score |
6.0 (4.5–7.0) |
| Modified Rodnan skin score |
7.0 (4.5–14.0) |
| Prednisolone use, number (percentage) |
|
| None |
28 (57%) |
| Former |
13 (27%) |
| Current |
8 (16%) |
| Cumulative prednisolone dose, grams |
3.6 (1.9–16.1) |
| Immunosuppressive agents, number (percentage) |
|
| Never used |
25 (51%) |
| Former or current users |
24 (49%) |
| Methotrexate |
|
| Current |
12 |
| Former |
7 |
| Cyclophosphamide |
|
| Current |
2 |
| Former |
4 |
| Azathioprine |
|
| Current |
3 |
| Former |
3 |
| Cyclosporin |
|
| Current |
0 |
| Former |
1 |
|
Unless stated otherwise, data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation when normally distributed and as median (interquartile range) when non-normally distributed. EScSG, European Scleroderma Study Group. | |
Hettema et al. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2008 10:R49 doi:10.1186/ar2408 |
|