Wangkaew S, et al. - An investigation was pursued of the causes of death, survival rates and risk factors for mortality in Thai patients with early systemic sclerosis (SSc), of whom the majority belonged to the diffuse SSc (dcSSc) subset. It was discovered that dilated cardiomyopathy was the most common SSc-related cause of death in the study cohort. Poor outcome was speculated via elevated ESR, anemia, and increased mRSS predicted .

Methods

• The enrollment comprised of early-SSc patients, recruited between January 2010 and August 2014.
• An analysis was performed of the clinical and laboratory data at the study entry and then every 6 months.

Results

• The eligible candidates were 115 patients (68 female, 91 dcSSc) in number.
• It was determined that the mean ± SD age at onset, duration of disease, and duration of follow-up were 52.5 ± 8.5 years, 12.3 ± 9.2 months, and 27.5 ± 16.4 months, respectively.
• 11(9.6%) SSc patients died, as revealed by the follow-up study.
• The mortality rate was 4.17 per 100 person-years (95% CI 2.31, 7.53).
• Dilated cardiomyopathy (27.2%) was disclosed as being the leading cause of SSc-related death.
• Infection was most commonly detected cause of non-SSc-related death (18.2%).
• Survival rates at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years after the study entry were 93, 91, 88, and 88%, respectively.
• ESR ≥ 40 mm/h [HR 8.65 (95% CI 1.66,45.17)], hemoglobin < 10 mg/dL [HR 4.57 (95% CI 1.14,18.34)], and mRSS [HR 1.09 (95% CI 1.03,1.15)] were independent risk factors for mortality, noted during the multivariate Cox regression analysis.