Clinical features of patients with systemic sclerosis accompanied by rheumatoid arthritis.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the incidence of patients with both systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis (SSc-RA) and the clinical features of those with SSc-RA.

METHODS:

All 173 patients with systemic sclerosis in our clinic were investigated.

RESULTS:

Of the 173 patients with systemic sclerosis, 9 (5.2%) developed rheumatoid arthritis (RA). At the first visit, arthritis prior to Raynaud's phenomenon, increased C-reactive protein (CRP), and elevated rheumatoid factor (RF) were seen in patients with SSc-RA at a significantly higher incidence than in those without (44.4% versus 4.8%, p < 0.01; 55.6% versus 13.6%, p < 0.001; 247.2 +/- 312.1 versus 47.9 +/- 54.3 IU/ml, p < 0.001, respectively). Furthermore, in 8 of the 9 patients with SSc-RA, CRP was increased before the diagnosis of RA.

CONCLUSION:

These results suggest that systemic sclerosis patients with elevated RF and a history of arthralgia prior to Raynaud's phenomenon should be followed up with serial measurements of CRP due to their risk of developing RA.

• Authors: M Jinnin, H Ihn, K Yamane, Y Asano, N Yazawa, K Tamaki
• Journal: Clinical and experimental rheumatology (Clin Exp Rheumatol) 2003 Jan-Feb Vol. 21 Issue 1 Pg. 91-4 ISSN: 0392-856X [Print] Italy
• PMID: 12673896 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Antinuclear
• C-Reactive Protein

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Antibodies, Antinuclear (blood)
• Arthritis, Rheumatoid (blood, complications, physiopathology)
• C-Reactive Protein (analysis)
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Retrospective Studies
• Scleroderma, Systemic (blood, complications, physiopathology)