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Aim: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the leading cause of disease-related death in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Here, we assess baseline characteristics of SSc subjects with and without restrictive lung disease (RLD) in a multi-center, US-based registry., Methods: SSc patients within 5 years of disease onset were enrolled in the Collaborative National Quality and Efficacy Registry (CONQUER), a multi-center US-based registry of SSc study participants (age ≥ 18 years) enrolled at 13 expert centers. All subjects met 2013 American College of Rheumatology / European League Against Rheumatism criteria. Subjects with a pulmonary function test (PFT) at baseline before April 1, 2020 were included. High-resolution computed tomography scan of the chest was not available to characterize ILD for all subjects. RLD was defined as forced vital capacity (FVC) <80% or total lung capacity (TLC) <80% predicted., Results: There were 160 (45%) SSc subjects characterized as having RLD. There was no significant difference in age, gender or disease duration. RLD subjects had a mean disease duration from date of first non-Raynaud's symptom of 2.6 years and a mean FVC% predicted of 67% at baseline. In multivariable analysis, non-White race, higher physician global health assessment and modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea scores, were independently associated with RLD. In the subgroup of RLD subjects with ILD, ILD had a negative correlation with RNA polymerase III antibody., Conclusion: CONQUER is the largest, multi-center, prospective cohort of early SSc patients in the US. Non-White race was independently associated with RLD. In addition, 45% of CONQUER subjects already had RLD, highlighting the importance of screening for SSc-ILD at initial diagnosis., (© 2021 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of antinuclear antibody (ANA) positivity in a cohort of patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), and to assess the frequency of seroconversion during treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α inhibitor therapy., Methods: This prospective study was conducted through the Wound Etiology and Healing (WE-HEAL) Study. Immunofluorescence ANA testing was performed at baseline, and repeated when clinically indicated. ANA titers of ≥1 : 160 were considered positive. Data were collected on demographics and disease activity scores including the Hurley stage, the HS Sartorius score (HSS) and the active nodule (AN) count., Results: At the time of data lock, 73 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of HS were enrolled, and four (5.4%) had baseline positive ANA. None of the patients had clinical evidence of systemic lupus erythematosus or other autoimmune diseases. There were no significant differences in demographics, baseline HSS (43.25 ± 47.55 compared to 59.48 ± 56.67, P = 0.58) or AN count (3.25 ± 3.20 compared to 3.45 ± 2.36, P = 0.87) in the ANA positive group. Of the 69 patients who were ANA negative at enrollment, 31 (45%) received TNF-α inhibitor therapy. During follow up, one patient developed drug-induced lupus secondary to TNF-α inhibitor use. Additionally, one patient seroconverted to ANA positive without sequelae and one patient developed drug-induced hepatitis secondary to TNF-α inhibitor use., Conclusion: The prevalence of baseline ANA positivity in this HS population was similar to that seen in the general population (5.4%). The rate of seroconversion and drug-induced complications in this population were low., (© 2018 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)