TY - JOUR T1 - Serologic Profile and Mortality Rates of Scleroderma Renal Crisis in Italy JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol DO - 10.3899/jrheum.080806 SP - jrheum.080806 AU - Veronica Codullo AU - Ilaria Cavazzana AU - Claudia Bonino AU - Claudia Alpini AU - Lorenzo Cavagna AU - Franco Cozzi AU - Nicoletta Del Papa AU - Franco Franceschini AU - Serena Guiducci AU - Gabriella Morozzi AU - Amelia Ruffatti AU - Clodoveo Ferri AU - Roberto Giacomelli AU - Marco Matucci-Cerinic AU - Gabriele Valentini AU - Carlomaurizio Montecucco Y1 - 2009/06/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2009/05/27/jrheum.080806.abstract N2 - Objective To analyze clinical and serological characteristics of subjects with scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) in Italian patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods A retrospective analysis of medical records from 9 Italian rheumatologic referral centers was carried out. All patients with SRC and an available serum sample at the time of crisis were included. Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) by indirect immunofluorescence, anti-topoisomerase (topo) I by enzyme-linked assay (ELISA), anti-RNA polymerases (RNAP) by ELISA for the subunit III, and immunoprecipitation (IP) were performed. Results Forty-six cases (38 female; 40 diffuse cutaneous SSc) were identified. Mean age at SSc and SRC onset was 52.8 years ± 13.2 and 55.4 years ± 11.8, respectively. ANA were present in 44 patients (96%). Anti-topo I antibodies were detected in 30 (65%), anti-RNAP I–III in 7 (15%). No differences emerged between these 2 groups for their main clinical characteristics. The proportion of patients in the anti-RNAP I–III group developing SRC early (< 18 mo) in the course of SSc was significantly higher (p = 0.03). Cumulative survival rates were 64%, 53%, and 35% at 1, 2, and 10 years of followup, respectively. Survival rates of SSc patients significantly differed according to their autoantibody profile, being lower in the anti-topo I than in the anti-RNAP I–III group (p = 0.034). Conclusion SRC is a rare manifestation of SSc in Italy but it is still associated with severe prognosis. Anti-topo I reactivity was more frequent than anti-RNAP I–III in our patients with SRC and was associated with delayed onset and high mortality rates. ER -