Characterization of adult patients with systemic sclerosis in a reference center from northwestern Colombia: a descriptive survey

Background: Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune and multisystemic disease characterized by vascular involvement and fibrosis that mainly affects the skin and internal organs; its morbidity and mortality are the highest among rheumatic diseases. Objective: To determine the sociodemographic, clinical, and paraclinical characteristics of adult patients with systemic sclerosis in a reference center of rheumatology in northwestern Colombia, between 2006 and 2016. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted. Information on sociodemographic, clinical, and paraclinical variables was collected from the review of medical records. The data were processed with the IBM SPSS 22 statistical package. The qualitative variables were expressed in absolute and relative frequencies and the quantitative variables in mean and standard deviation or median and interquartile range, according to their distribution. Results: 44 patients were included, predominantly women (90.9%), with an average age of 59 years; the most common variety was the limited (61.3%). One hundred percent of the subjects presented Raynaud's phenomenon and the most common compromised systems were: cutaneous (100%), musculoskeletal (59.1%), and gastrointestinal (50%). 95.5% of the patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria ACR/EULAR 2013. Regarding the immunological profile, 72.7% of the individuals had positive antinuclear antibodies, of which 53.1% had a centromeric pattern. Conclusions: Similar sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were found in this cohort, according to what was published in the literature. The most frequent extracutaneous systems involved were: musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, and pulmonary, which cause a large part of the associated morbidity, as well as a decrease in quality of life.