RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Gastric Antral Vascular Ectasia and Its Clinical Correlates in Patients with Early Diffuse Systemic Sclerosis in the SCOT Trial
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP jrheum.121087
DO 10.3899/jrheum.121087
A1 Emily W.  Hung
A1 Maureen D.  Mayes
A1 Roozbeh Sharif
A1 Shervin Assassi
A1 Victor I.  Machicao
A1 Chitra Hosing
A1 E. William  St. Clair
A1 Daniel E.  Furst
A1 Dinesh Khanna
A1 Stephen Forman
A1 Shin Mineishi
A1 Kristine Phillips
A1 James R.  Seibold
A1 Christopher Bredeson
A1 Mary Ellen  Csuka
A1 Richard A.  Nash
A1 Mark H.  Wener
A1 Robert Simms
A1 Karen Ballen
A1 Sharon LeClercq
A1 Jan Storek
A1 Ellen Goldmuntz
A1 Beverly Welch
A1 Lynette Keyes-Elstein
A1 Sharon Castina
A1 Leslie J.  Crofford
A1 Peter McSweeney
A1 Keith M.  Sullivan
YR 2013
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2013/02/12/jrheum.121087.abstract
AB Objective To describe the prevalence and clinical correlates of endoscopic gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE; “watermelon stomach”) in early diffuse systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods Subjects with early, diffuse SSc and evidence of specific internal organ involvement were considered for the Scleroderma: Cyclophosphamide Or Transplant (SCOT) trial. In the screening procedures, all patients underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Patients were then categorized into those with or without endoscopic evidence of GAVE. Demographic data, clinical disease characteristics, and autoantibody data were compared using Pearson chi-square or Student t tests. Results Twenty-three of 103 (22.3%) individuals were found to have GAVE on endoscopy. Although not statistically significant, anti-topoisomerase I (anti-Scl70) was detected less frequently among those with GAVE (18.8% vs 44.7%; p = 0.071). Similarly, anti-RNP antibodies (anti-U1 RNP) showed a trend to a negative association with GAVE (0 vs 18.4%; p = 0.066). There was no association between anti-RNA polymerase III and GAVE. Patients with GAVE had significantly more erythema or vascular ectasias in other parts of the stomach (26.1% vs 5.0%; p = 0.003). Conclusion Endoscopic GAVE was present on screening in almost one-fourth of these highly selected patients with early and severe diffuse SSc. While anti-Scl70 and anti-U1 RNP trended toward a negative association with GAVE, there was no correlation between anti-RNA Pol III and GAVE. Patients with GAVE had a higher frequency of other gastric vascular ectasias outside the antrum, suggesting that GAVE may represent part of the spectrum of the vasculopathy in SSc.