Table 2.
Epidemiological, clinical and functional features of the systemic sclerosis patients grouped with respect to positivity or negativity to anti-topoisomerase II α (anti-topo II α) autoantibodies
| Anti-topo II α+ (n = 20) | Anti-topo II α− (n = 72) | P* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) at investigation, mean ± s.e.m. | 50·6 ± 2·8 | 52·4 ± 1·5 | NS |
| Disease duration (years), mean ± s.e.m. | 6·2 ± 0·9 | 9·8 ± 0·8 | 0·04 |
| Sex, F:M | 19:1 | 64:8 | NS |
| dcSSc | 50·0% | 37·5% | NS |
| Anti-centromere antibodies (ACA) | 30·0% | 25·0% | NS |
| Anti-topo I (Scl-70) antibodies | 45·0% | 51·4% | NS |
| Pulmonary hypertension (PHT) | 55·0% | 19·4% | 0·004 |
| Restrictive lung disease | 45·0% | 30·6% | NS |
| DLco (percent predicted) | 48·6 ± 4·4 | 63·8 ± 2·8 | 0·01 |
dcSSc, Diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis; anti-topo I, anti-topoisomerase I; DLco, carbon monoxide diffusing capacity; NS, not significant.
*
Significance of the difference between the anti-topo II α–positive (+) and -negative (−) patients as calculated by Mann—Whitney U-test, or χ2 tests with Yate's correction or, when appropriate, Fisher's exact test.