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. 2021 Jun 14;23:170. doi: 10.1186/s13075-021-02548-1

Table 2.

Baseline PRESS demographic and clinical characteristics by final SSc type in the 38 patients in the at-risk population (n = 38)

Baseline characteristics (n = total available data) Initial population
at high risk of dcSSc at baseline
N = 38
Patients who developed dcSSc during follow-up
n = 27
Patients who did not develop dcSSc during follow-up
n = 11
P-value£
Demographic data
 Age (years), mean (±SD) (n = 38) 45.3 (±12.8) 44.4 (±11.9) 47.5 (±14.9) 0.5129
 Gender/female (n = 38) 30 (78.9) 23 (85.2) 7 (63.6) 0.1950§
 Race (n = 38)
  Black 4 (10.5) 3 (11.1) 1 (9.1) 1.0000§
  White 31 (81.6) 21 (77.8) 10 (90.9)
  Others 2 (5.3) 2 (7.4) 0 (0.0)
  Unknown 1 (2.6) 1 (3.7) 0 (0.0)
 Ethnicity (n = 38)
  Hispanic 4 (10.5) 4 (14.8) 0 (0.0) 0.3026§
  Non-Hispanic 34 (89.5) 23 (85.2) 11 (100.0)
  Others/unknown 0 (0.0)
 Marital status (n = 38)
  Single 7 (18.4) 6 (22.2) 1 (9.1) 0.5506§
  Married 29 (76.3) 20 (74.1) 9 (81.8)
  Divorced or widowed 2 (5.3) 1 (3.7) 1 (9.1)
  Others/unknown 0 (0.0)
 Employment status (n = 38)
  Full-time 25 (65.8) 20 (74.1) 5 (45.5) 0.1109§
  Part-time 4 (10.5) 1 (3.7) 3 (27.3)
  Retired 3 (7.9) 2 (7.4) 1 (9.1)
  Disability/disabled 0 (0.0)
  Others+ 6 (15.8) 4 (14.8) 2 (18.2)
 Smoking status (n = 38)
  Never 30 (78.9) 22 (81.5) 8 (72.7) 0.6671§
  Current or former 8 (21.1) 5 (18.5) 3 (27.3)
Clinical data
 Disease duration (years), mean (±SD), median (IQR) since first non-RP symptoms (n = 38) 1.0 (±0.5), 0.9 (0.7, 1.3) 1.0 (±0.5), 0.9 (0.5, 1.6) 1.0 (±0.4), 1.0 (0.8, 1.1) 0.5953
 Disease duration (years), mean (±SD), median (IQR) since Raynaud’s phenomenon (n=36) 3.7 (±6.4), 1.3 (0.8, 2.5) 3.6 (±6.6), 1.8 (0.8, 2.1) 4.0 (±6.2), 1.1 (0.7, 3.6) 0.9589
 Disease duration less than 6 months (n = 38) 4 (10.5) 4 (14.8) 0 (0.0) 0.3026§
 First scleroderma symptom (n = 38)
  Puffy hands or fingers 19 (50.0) 16 (59.3) 3 (27.3) 0.2152
  Dyspnea 1 (2.6) 0 (0.0) 1 (9.1)
  Arthritis 1 (2.6) 1 (3.7) 0 (0.0)
  Reflux 1 (2.6) 0 (0.0) 1 (9.1)
  Raynaud’s phenomenon 13 (34.2) 8 (29.6) 5 (45.5)
  Skin tightening 1 (2.6) 1 (3.7) 0 (0.0)
  DU 0 (0.0)
  Others* 2 (5.3) 1 (3.7) 1 (9.1)
 Baseline mRSS (n = 34), mean (±SD) 7.4 (±4.8) 8.8 (±4.7) 4.4 (±3.8) 0.0099
 Tendon friction rubs (n = 37) 7 (18.9) 7 (26.9) 0 (0.0) 0.0797§
 Active DU (n = 37) 1 (2.7) 1 (3.8) 0 (0.0) 1.0000§
 Calcinosis (n = 35) 4 (11.4) 3 (12.5) 1 (9.1) 1.0000§
 ILD based on baseline HRCT (n = 16) 16 (51.6) 10 (45.5) 6 (66.7) 0.4331§
 FVC (n = 34) (%pred), mean (±SD) 88.6 (±19.0) 86.9 (±19.4) 92.3 (±18.5) 0.4520
 FVC<70% (n = 34) 8 (23.5) 5 (21.7) 3 (27.3) 1.0000§
 DLCO (n = 33) (%pred), mean (±SD) 79.7 (±29.8) 80.0 (±26.6) 79.1 (±36.6) 0.9397
 History of PH based on baseline RHC (n = 38) 1 (2.6) 1 (3.7) 0 (0.0) 1.0000§
 Pericardial effusion on first TTE (n = 23) 2 (8.7) 2 (14.3) 0 (0.0) 0.5020§
 LVEF of ≤ 45% on first TTE (n = 17) 0 (0.0)
 History of Scleroderma renal crisis (n = 38) 1 (2.6) 0 (0.0) 1 (9.1) 0.2895§
 HAQ-DI (n = 34), mean (±SD), median (IQR) 0.7 (±0.6), 0.5 (0.3, 1.0) 0.8 (±0.7), 0.6 (0.4, 1.1) 0.4 (±0.3), 0.3 (0.3, 0.5) 0.0519
Biological data
 ANA positive (n = 32) 32 (97.0) 23 (95.8) 9 (100.0) 1.0000§
  Anti-Topo I (n = 30) 17 (56.7) 11 (52.4) 6 (66.7) 0.6908§
  Anti-RNA pol III (n = 27) 10 (37.0) 6 (31.6) 4 (50.0) 0.4147§
  Anti-U3 RNP/fibrillarin (n=7) 0 (0.0)
  Anti-centromere (n = 23) 0 (0.0)
  Anti-Th/To (n = 8) 4 (50.0) 1 (33.3) 3 (60.0) 1.0000§
  SSA/anti-RO (n = 24) 3 (12.5) 1 (5.9) 2 (28.6) 0.1937§
  SSB/anti-LA (n = 24) 1 (4.2) 1 (5.9) 0 (0.0) 1.0000§
 Baseline CRP value, mean (±SD), median (IQR) (n = 22) mg/dL 2.3 (±2.7), 0.7 (0.4, 4.3) 2.2 (±2.6), 0.7 (0.4, 4.3) 3.1 (±3.4), 1.6 (0.8, 7.0) 0.2305
  CRP > ULN (0.6 mg/dL) (n = 22) 13 (59.1) 10 (52.6) 3 (100.0) 0.2403§

mRSS, modified Rodnan skin score; FVC, forced vital capacity; DLCO, diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide; RHC, right heart catheterization; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; TTE, transthoracic echocardiogram; ILD, interstitial lung disease; Topo I, topoisomerase I; RNA pol III, RNA polymerase III; CRP, C-reactive protein; HAQ-DI, Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index; IQR, inter-quartile range; SD, standard deviation; ULN, upper limit of normal

*Other first scleroderma symptom includes lower extremity swelling, telangiectasias, wrist and ankle inflammation, joint pain, fatigue, myalgias, Carpal tunnel syndrome, cold and numbness in extremities, pruritis, hypo/hyper-pigmentation, hypertension, cough, and gastrointestinal discomfort

Data are expressed as n (%) unless otherwise specified; quantitative data without Gaussian distribution are presented as median (IQR) as specified

£Comparison between patients who developed dcSSc during follow-up versus those who did not

t-test

Chi-squared test

§Fisher exact test

Wilcoxon rank sum test