Baseline demographics and clinical characteristics of diffuse, severe SSc patients treated with RTX matched with diffuse, severe control SSc patients (N=25 pairs)
| Baseline characteristics of SSc patients with diffuse severe skin fibrosis (N=25 each group) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX treated | Matched control | p Value | |||
| Age (years) mean±SEM | N=25; 45.0±2.4 | N=25; 50.0±3.0 | 0.2 | ||
| Sex | n/N | % | n/N | % | |
| female | 16 | 64.0 | 19 | 76.0 | 0.5 |
| mRSS | N=25; 26.6±1.4 | N=25; 25.0±1.2 | 0.03* | ||
| Disease duration in years median (range) | 5 (3–7) | 5 (3–7) | 0.9 | ||
| Follow-up in months (range) | 6 (5–9) | 7 (4–9) | 0.4 | ||
| Autoantibodies positive | 19/25 | 76.0 | 15/20 | 75.0 | 1.0 |
| ACA | 1/25 | 4.0 | 1/18 | 5.5 | 1.0 |
| Anti-RNA polymerase III | 3/21 | 14.3 | 1/11 | 9.1 | 1.0 |
| Anti-Scl-70 | 16/23 | 69.6 | 14/20 | 70.0 | 1.0 |
| Anti-U1-snRNP | 0/22 | 0 | 1/15 | 6.7 | 0.4 |
| DMARDs treatment | 20/24 | 83.3 | 16/22 | 72.7 | 0.5 |
Autoantibodies were measured and interpreted according to local standards. Demographics and clinical characteristics are defined according to EUSTAR criteria.30
ACA, anticentromere antibody; anti-Scl 70, antitopoisomerase 1 antibody; anti-U1-snRNP, anti-U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein antibody; DMARDs, disease modifying antirheumatic drugs; EUSTAR, European Scleroderma Trial and Research; mRSS, modified Rodnan Skin Score; N, number of patients available for analysis; n, number of patients with the specific feature; RTX, rituximab; SSc, systemic sclerosis.
*p<0.05.