Baseline clinical characteristics of the study patients.
| Characteristics | Total SSc Patients | ILO Group | ILO + BOS Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. patients | 26 | 13 | 13 |
| Age, yrs ± SD | 62 ± 12 | 65 ± 4 | 59 ± 18 |
| Sex, male/female | 4/22 | 1/12 | 3/10 |
| SSc duration, yrs ± SD | 8 ± 4 | 7 ± 3 | 9 ± 3 |
| Raynaud duration, yrs ± SD | 16 ± 4 | 20 ± 15 | 14 ± 4 |
| NVC pattern (early/active/late) | 0/7/19 | 0/5/8 | 0/2/11 |
| ANA indirect immunofluorescence pattern (centromeric/speckled/homogeneous/nucleolar) | 16/7/0/3 | 12/1/0/0 | 4/6/0/3 |
| Specific autoantibody positivity (ACA or Scl-70) | 16/6 | 12/1 | 4/6 |
| Skin involvement, limited/diffuse | 13/13 | 7/6 | 6/7 |
| Gastrointestinal involvement, yes/no | 2/24 | 1/12 | 1/12 |
| Lung involvement, yes/no | 2/24 | 1/12 | 1/12 |
| Pulmonary arterial hypertension, yes/no | 1/25 | 0/13 | 1/12 |
| Heart involvement, yes/no | 0/26 | 0/13 | 0/13 |
| Renal involvement, yes/no | 0/26 | 0/13 | 0/13 |
| Digital ulcers, yes/no | 13/26 | 0/13 | 13/13 |
| Treatments (cardioaspirin/PPI/antihypertensive drugs/cyclosporine/MTX) | 22/23/9/8/4 | 11/11/3/4/1 | 11/12/6/4/3 |
SSc: systemic sclerosis; ILO: iloprost; BOS: bosentan; NVC: nailfold videocapillaroscopy; ANA: antinuclear antibodies; ACA: anticentromere antibodies; Scl-70: topoisomerase; PPI: proton pump inhibitors; MTX: methotrexate.