[Illnesses unrelated to systemic sclerosis (IUSS) diagnosed throughout the patient's follow-up in a referral center: A cohort of 200 patients].

INTRODUCTION

Our work aimed to investigate the illnesses unrelated to systemic sclerosis (IUSS), diagnosed among patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) throughout their follow-up in a referral tertiary care center.

METHODS

All the patients with SSc followed in the Internal Medicine Department of the University Hospital between October, 2014 and December, 2015, were included. We specifically reviewed the medical records of the patients who exhibited IUSS, defined as an illness that could not be considered as a typical clinical manifestation or as a usual complication of the disease.

RESULTS

Two hundred patients were included, and 38 IUSS were diagnosed among 31 SSc patients, over a 4 years median follow-up period. These diagnoses included vascular diseases (26%), heart diseases (21%), neoplasia (8%), infectious diseases (6%), autoimmune diseases (5%), endocrinopathies (5%), and others (24%). The median follow-up time before IUSS diagnosis was two years. Seventeen (45%) of these diagnoses were considered in patients showing suggestive clinical signs. A specific therapy was delivered in 25 cases (66%). Group comparisons revealed that dyslipidemia was more frequent in patients with IUSS (OR = 2.6 [1.1-1.5]; p = 0.014), while no differences were found for the other characteristics. Especially, no association between auto-antibodies specificity and the occurrence of IUSS was found.

CONCLUSION

This study focused on IUSS in SSc patients and highlights the need for a polyvalent clinical approach all along the follow up of SSc patients.