OBJECTIVE: To describe a series of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with the unusual combination of scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) and pulmonary hypertension (PHT) without interstitial lung disease. METHODS: The medical records of 2,459 SSc patients in the University of Pittsburgh Scleroderma Databank first evaluated between 1972 and 1999 were reviewed. RESULTS: Eleven patients (0.45%) had both SRC and PHT. All had been evaluated since 1979, when angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor therapy for SRC became available. Seven had SSc with limited cutaneous involvement, and 4 had SSc with diffuse cutaneous involvement. SRC occurred first in all patients except 1, in whom the onsets of SRC and PHT were simultaneous. SRC preceded PHT by a mean of 4.3 years. Four patients had anti-Th/To antibody, 5 had anti-RNA polymerase III antibody, 2 had anti-U3 RNP antibody, and none had anticentromere or antitopoisomerase I antibody. Ten of the 11 patients died, 8 from PHT. Ten patients were being treated with ACE inhibitor drugs when PHT developed. CONCLUSION: In SSc, SRC and PHT are not mutually exclusive complications. SSc patients surviving SRC who have serum antibodies to Th/To, RNA polymerase III, or U3 RNP are at increased risk to develop PHT. ACE inhibitor therapy did not prevent the development of PHT.
OBJECTIVE: To describe a series of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with the unusual combination of scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) and pulmonary hypertension (PHT) without interstitial lung disease. METHODS: The medical records of 2,459 SSc patients in the University of Pittsburgh Scleroderma Databank first evaluated between 1972 and 1999 were reviewed. RESULTS: Eleven patients (0.45%) had both SRC and PHT. All had been evaluated since 1979, when angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor therapy for SRC became available. Seven had SSc with limited cutaneous involvement, and 4 had SSc with diffuse cutaneous involvement. SRC occurred first in all patients except 1, in whom the onsets of SRC and PHT were simultaneous. SRC preceded PHT by a mean of 4.3 years. Four patients had anti-Th/To antibody, 5 had anti-RNA polymerase III antibody, 2 had anti-U3 RNP antibody, and none had anticentromere or antitopoisomerase I antibody. Ten of the 11 patients died, 8 from PHT. Ten patients were being treated with ACE inhibitor drugs when PHT developed. CONCLUSION: In SSc, SRC and PHT are not mutually exclusive complications. SSc patients surviving SRC who have serum antibodies to Th/To, RNA polymerase III, or U3 RNP are at increased risk to develop PHT. ACE inhibitor therapy did not prevent the development of PHT.
Authors: Hector Chinoy; Fiona Salway; Noreen Fertig; Neil Shephard; Brian D Tait; Wendy Thomson; David A Isenberg; Chester V Oddis; Alan J Silman; William E R Ollier; Robert G Cooper Journal: Arthritis Res Ther Date: 2006 Impact factor: 5.156