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Monotherapy is an option as first-line therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, combination therapy is a beneficial alternative. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of monotherapy versus combination therapy in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc)-associated PAH.

IntroductionOur objective was to evaluate the pulmonary hypertension (PH) data for Spanish patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), define the PH types and determine the associated factors.MethodDescriptive study of PH-related data from the multicentre RESCLE registry. Estimated systolic pulmonary artery pressure (esPAP), measured via echocardiogram was considered elevated if 35mmHg. Left heart disease (LHD) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) were identified. When performed, data from right heart catheterisation (RHC) were collected.ResultsesPAP was elevated in 350 of 808 patients (43.3%). One hundred and forty-four patients (17.8%) were considered to have PH (88 via RHC and the rest due to elevated esPAP along with evidence of significant LHD or ILD): PAH 3.7%, secondary to ILD 8.3%, secondary to LHD 2.8% and unclassified 3%. Prevalence of elevated esPAP was greater in diffuse SSc (dSSc) than in limited scleroderma (lSSc) (50.5 vs. 42.2%, p 0.046). In the group with elevated esPAP, a lower prevalence of anti-centromere antibodies (41.9% vs. 52.3%, p 0.006) and a greater prevalence of anti-topoisomerase-1 antibodies (ATA) (25.1% vs. 18.6%, p 0.04) were observed compared to the group with normal esPAP. Patients with elevated esPAP had a lower rate of digital ulcers (50.6% vs. 60.2%, p 0.007) and esophageal involvement (83.6% vs. 88.7%, p 0.07) and higher rate of renal crisis (4.6% vs. 1.8%, p 0.066).ConclusionsPrevalence of PAH was lower than expected (3.7%). Probability of having elevated esPAP was higher among patients with dSSc and among those with ATA.

When first published, this article inadvertently listed the RESCLE investigators individually within the author list. The names should instead have been listed within the Acknowledgements section only. The corrected author list and the updated Acknowledgements section are presented in this Correction.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and causes of hepatobiliary involvement (HBI) in systemic sclerosis (SSc), to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of SSc patients with HBI (SSc-HBI) and without HBI (SSc-non-HBI), and to compare both groups according to the cutaneous SSc subsets. Methods: In all, 1572 SSc patients were collected in the RESCLE registry up to January 2015, and all hepatobiliary disturbances were recorded. We investigated the HBI-related characteristics and survival from the entire SSc cohort and according to the following cutaneous subsets: diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc), limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc), and SSc sine scleroderma (ssSSc). Results: Out of 1572, 118 (7.5%) patients had HBI. Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) was largely the main cause (n = 67, 4.3%), followed by autoimmune hepatitis (n = 19, 1.2%), and anti-mitochondrial negative PBC (n = 6, 0.4%). Other causes of HBI were as follows: secondary liver diseases (n = 11, 0.7%), SSc-related HBI (n = 7, 0.4%), nodular regenerative hyperplasia (n = 3, 0.2%), liver cirrhosis (n = 3, 0.2%), and HBI of unknown origin (n = 2, 0.1%). In multivariate analysis, HBI was independently associated to lesser risk of dcSSc (5.1% vs. 24.4%), and higher frequency of calcinosis (26% vs. 18%), left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (46% vs. 27%), sicca syndrome (51% vs. 29%), and anti-centromere antibodies (ACA, 73% vs. 44%). According to the cutaneous subsets, HBI was associated (1) in lcSSc, to longer time from SSc onset to diagnosis (10.8 +/- 12.5 vs. 7.2 +/- 9.3 years), sicca syndrome (54% vs. 33%), and ACA (80% vs. 56%); (2) in ssSSc, to sicca syndrome (44% vs. 19%), and (3) in dcSSc, no associations were found. HBI was the cause of death in 23% patients but the cumulative survival according to the presence or absence of HBI showed no differences. Conclusions: HBI prevalence in SSc is 7.5% and dcSSc is the least involved subset. PBC is the main cause of HBI. Patients with SSc-HBI exhibited specific clinical and immunologic profile. Survival is similar for SSc patients with HBI (C). 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Objectives: According to the existence of subclinical organ involvement pre-scleroderma should be divided into two subsets: very early and early disease. Pre-scleroderma patients included in the Spanish Scleroderma Registry (RESCLE) Cohort were reclassified into subsets. Differences were evaluated and the risk of progression to definite systemic sclerosis was estimated. Methods: The characteristics of very early and early SSc patients were compared. A logistic regression model was used to determine the risk factors of progression. Results: 1632 patients were included, 36 (2.2%) in the very early subset and 111 (6.8%) in the early subset. There were no differences in sex, age at disease onset, duration of Raynaud's phenomenon, antinuclear antibodies or capillaroscopic findings. Three (8.3%) very early SSc patients evolved to definite SSc, 2 (5.6%) of them meeting the ACR/EULAR 2013 criteria, unlike 31 (28%) early SSc patients, 20 (24%) of them meeting the criteria (p = 0.034). Digestive involvement was an independent risk factor of progression (OR 17; 95% CI, 6.1-47.2). Conclusions: The classification of early forms of sderoderma identifies patients with different prognostic risk of progression. The evolution to definite SSc is more frequent in early than in very early SSc patients. Digestive involvement is a risk factor of progression. An active assessment of organ damage in preclinical stages allows a correct classification and risk stratification, with implications for monitoring and treatment. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Objective. The low overall prevalence of systemic sclerosis (SSc) and the low proportion of male patients have resulted in a scarcity of studies assessing sex differences in Ssc patients, and contradictory results have often been show among those studies that have been performed. Methods. A prospective study was conducted with the Spanish RESCLE register to analyse the influence of gender on survival of SSc patients. Results. In total, 1506 SSc patients (1341 women, 165 men) were recruited from 21 centres. Older age at onset (OR 1.02), shorter time from onset to diagnosis (OR 0.96), smoking (OR 2.57), interstitial lung disease (ILD) (OR 1.58), less predisposition to sicca syndrome and to antinuclear antibody positivity (OR 0.29 and 0.43, respectively), and higher compliance with the ACR 1980 criteria (OR 1.79) were independently associated with the male sex. During follow-up, 30.4% of men versus 14.6% of women died (p

Objective: Digital ulcers (DU) are the most common vascular complication of systemic sclerosis (SSc). We compared the characteristics between patients with prior or current DU with those never affected and evaluated whether a history of DU may be a predictor of vascular, organ involvement, and/or death in patients with SSc. Methods: Data from SSc patients with or without prior or current DU were collected by 19 referral centers in an ongoing registry of Spanish SSc patients, named Registro de ESCLErodermia (RESCLE). Demographics, organ involvement, autoimmunity features, nailfold capillary pattern, survival time, and causes of death were analyzed to identify DU related characteristics and survival of the entire series and according to the following cutaneous subsets diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc), limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc), and SSc sine scleroderma (ssSSc). Results: Out of 1326, 552 patients enrolled in the RESCLE registry had prior or current DU, 88% were women, the mean age was 50 +/- 16 years, and the mean disease duration from first SSc symptom was 7.6 +/- 9.6 years. Many significant differences were observed in the univariate analysis between patients with and without prior/current DU. Multivariate analysis identified that history of prior/current DU in patients with SSc was independently associated to younger age at SSc diagnosis, diffuse cutaneous SSc, peripheral vascular manifestations such Raynaud's phenomenon, telangiectasia, and acro-osteolysis but no other vascular features such as pulmonary arterial hypertension or scleroderma renal crisis. DU was also associated to calcinosis cutis, interstitial lung disease, as well as worse survival. Multivariate analysis performed in the cutaneous subsets showed that prior/current DU were independently associated: (1) in dcSSc, to younger age at SSc diagnosis, presence of telangiectasia and calcinosis and rarely a non-SSc pattern on nailfold capillaroscopy; (2) in lcSSc, to younger age at SSc diagnosis, presence of Raynaud's phenomenon as well as calcinosis cutis, interstitial lung disease, and higher incidence of death from all causes; and (3) in ssSSc, to younger age at first SSc symptom and greater incidence of death from all causes. Conclusions: Digital ulcers develop in patients with SSc younger at diagnosis, mainly in patients with dcSSc and IcSSc, and they are associated to other peripheral vascular manifestations such as Raynaud's phenomenon, telangiectasia, and acro-osteolysis but also to calcinosis, and interstitial lung disease. History of DU in SSc leads to worse survival, also noticeable for lcSSc and ssSSc subsets but not for dcSSc patients. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.