TY - JOUR T1 - Sex-related Differences in Systemic Sclerosis: A Multicenter Cross-sectional Study From the National Registry of the Italian Society for Rheumatology JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 176 LP - 185 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.210794 VL - 49 IS - 2 AU - Rossella De Angelis AU - Dilia Giuggioli AU - Gianluigi Bajocchi AU - Lorenzo Dagna AU - Giovanni Zanframundo AU - Rosario Foti AU - Fabio Cacciapaglia AU - Giovanna Cuomo AU - Alarico Ariani AU - Edoardo Rosato AU - Serena Guiducci AU - Francesco Girelli AU - Valeria Riccieri AU - Elisabetta Zanatta AU - Silvia Bosello AU - Ilaria Cavazzana AU - Francesca Ingegnoli AU - Maria De Santis AU - Giuseppe Murdaca AU - Giuseppina Abignano AU - Nicoletta Romeo AU - Alessandra Della Rossa AU - Maurizio Caminiti AU - Annamaria Iuliano AU - Giovanni Ciano AU - Lorenzo Beretta AU - Gianluca Bagnato AU - Ennio Lubrano AU - Ilenia De Andres AU - Alessandro Giollo AU - Marta Saracco AU - Cecilia Agnes AU - Federica Lumetti AU - Amelia Spinella AU - Luca Magnani AU - Corrado Campochiaro AU - Giacomo De Luca AU - Veronica Codullo AU - Elisa Visalli AU - Francesco Masini AU - Antonietta Gigante AU - Silvia Bellando-Randone AU - Greta Pellegrino AU - Erika Pigatto AU - Francesca Dall’Ara AU - Maria Grazia Lazzaroni AU - Elena Generali AU - Gianna Mennillo AU - Simone Barsotti AU - Giuseppa Pagano Mariano AU - Francesca Calabrese AU - Federica Furini AU - Licia Vultaggio AU - Simone Parisi AU - Clara Lisa Peroni AU - Anna Maria Risa AU - Davide Rozza AU - Anna Zanetti AU - Greta Carrara AU - Giampiero Landolfi AU - Carlo Alberto Scirè AU - Gerolamo Bianchi AU - Enrico Fusaro AU - Gian Domenico Sebastiani AU - Marcello Govoni AU - Salvatore D’Angelo AU - Franco Cozzi AU - Andrea Doria AU - Florenzo Iannone AU - Carlo Salvarani AU - Marco Matucci-Cerinic AU - Clodoveo Ferri AU - on behalf of the Systemic sclerosis PRogression INvestiGation group (SPRING) Y1 - 2022/02/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/49/2/176.abstract N2 - Objective There is still a great deal to learn about the influence of sex in systemic sclerosis (SSc). In this respect, national registries provide large and homogeneous patient cohorts for analytical studies. We therefore investigated a wide-ranging and well-characterized SSc series with the aim of identifying sex differences in disease expression, with a special focus on demographic, clinical, and serological characteristics.Methods A multicenter SSc cohort of 2281 patients, including 247 men, was recruited in the Italian Systemic sclerosis PRogression INvestiGation (SPRING) registry. Demographic data, disease manifestations, serological profile, and internal organ involvement were compared.Results The overall female/male ratio was 8.2:1. Female/male ratios for limited cutaneous SSc, diffuse cutaneous SSc, and SSc sine scleroderma subsets were 8.7:1, 4.9:1, and 10.7:1, respectively. A shorter time from onset of Raynaud phenomenon to SSc diagnosis, an increased prevalence of the diffuse cutaneous subset, renal crisis, and digital ulcers were found in males, whereas a significantly higher percentage of sicca syndrome, serum antinuclear antibodies, antiextractable nuclear antigens, anti-La/SSB, and anticentromere protein B was detected in the female group. Males exhibited lower left ventricular ejection fraction, as well as higher prevalence of conduction blocks, arrhythmias, ground glass, and honeycombing. Moreover, forced vital capacity and total lung capacity were medially lower in men than in women. Finally, males were more frequently treated with immunosuppressive drugs.Conclusion Our study further supports the presence of several sex-related differences in patients with SSc. These differences were pronounced in the severity of cutaneous, peripheral vascular, and cardiopulmonary involvement for male patients, whereas an increased prevalence of sicca syndrome and a specific autoantibody profile characterized the female sex. ER -