Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism
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Semin. Arthritis Rheum. · Jun 2012
Registry of the Spanish network for systemic sclerosis: clinical pattern according to cutaneous subsets and immunological status.
To investigate the incidence of clinical and immunological characteristics of a large cohort of Spanish patients with scleroderma (SSc) and identifying factors associated with particular organ manifestations assessed by a nationwide cross-sectional analysis. ⋯ The classification of SSc into dcSSc, lcSSc, and ssSSc subsets is the one that most closely reflects the natural history of the disease, as they presented clear clinical differences. The immunological profile helps to define important visceral alteration as ILD. Finally, to improve early diagnosis of SSc, patients with preSSc should be considered both to trace the true evolution of the disease and to define which patients could benefit from therapeutic measures able to prevent the appearance of visceral involvements.