SERUM IFN SCORE PREDICTS LONG TERM OUTCOME IN LIMITED CUTANEOUS SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS
Abstract: 2171
Authors: Karanth R. et al.
Key content:
Type-I Interferon (IFN) pathway activation has been associated with severity and progression of systemic sclerosis (SSc)
158 consecutive limited cutaneous (lc) SSc patients and age/sex- matched healthy controls (HC) were assessed for type I IFN activation by means of a serum chemokine score. Patients were dichotomised in IFN Hi or Low according to scores over or within one standard deviation of the HC mean.
The mean IFN score was significantly higher in lcSSC patients than in HCs [5.41 vs.4.86]. 70% of patients were classified as IFN HI. 33% of patients developed new onset organ morbidity or died during the three year follow up, of those 88.5% were IFN HI. This gave patients with IFN HI a relative risk of 3.32 to develop new onset organ morbidity or a fatal event.
Relevance:
It is still difficult to predict the outcome and treatment requirement of patients with lcSSc. The scoring of type 1 IFN activation may evolve as a novel tool to help in clinical decisions.
