Self-Reported Systemic Sclerosis-Related Symptoms Are More Prevalent in Subjects with Raynaud’s Phenomenon in the Lifelines Population: Focus on Pulmonary Complications
Saskia Corine van de Zande,
Amaal Eman Abdulle,
Yehya Al-Adwi,
Alja Stel,
Karina de Leeuw,
Elisabeth Brouwer,
Suzanne Arends,
Christiaan Tji Gan,
Harry van Goor,
Douwe Johannes Mulder
Affiliations
Saskia Corine van de Zande
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Vascular Medicine, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9712 Groningen, The Netherlands
Amaal Eman Abdulle
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Vascular Medicine, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9712 Groningen, The Netherlands
Yehya Al-Adwi
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Vascular Medicine, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9712 Groningen, The Netherlands
Alja Stel
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9712 Groningen, The Netherlands
Karina de Leeuw
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9712 Groningen, The Netherlands
Elisabeth Brouwer
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9712 Groningen, The Netherlands
Suzanne Arends
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9712 Groningen, The Netherlands
Christiaan Tji Gan
Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Tuberculosis, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9712 Groningen, The Netherlands
Harry van Goor
Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9712 Groningen, The Netherlands
Douwe Johannes Mulder
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Vascular Medicine, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, 9712 Groningen, The Netherlands
Puffy fingers and Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) are important clinical predictors of the development of systemic sclerosis (SSc). We aim to assess the prevalence of SSc-related symptoms, explore pulmonary symptoms, and test the usefulness of skin autofluorescence (SAF) as a non-invasive marker for Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs). Subjects from the Lifelines Cohort Study with known connective tissue disease (CTD) were excluded. Patient characteristics, SAF, self-reported pulmonary symptoms, and spirometry were obtained. Subjects (n = 73,948) were categorized into definite RP (5.3%) with and without SSc-related symptoms and non-RP. Prevalence of at least one potential SSc-related symptom (other than RP) was 8.7%; 23.5% in subjects with RP and 7.1% without RP (p p p p < 0.001), but this difference was not significant after correction for potential confounders. The prevalence of SSc-related symptoms was approximately three-fold higher in subjects with RP. Pulmonary symptoms are more prevalent in subjects with RP who also reported additional potential SSc-related symptoms. This might suggest that (suspected) early SSc develops more insidiously than acknowledged. According to this study, SAF is no marker for early detection of SSc.
