RESULTS: Questionnaires were obtained on 234 of 284 fatalities. 55% of deaths were attributed directly to SSc and 41% to non-SSc causes; in 4% the cause of death was not assigned. Of the SSc-related deaths, 35% were attributed to pulmonary fibrosis, 26% to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and 26% to cardiac causes (mainly heart failure and arrhythmias). Among the non-SSc-related causes, infections (33%) and malignancies (31%) were followed by cardiovascular causes (29% ABSTRACT ObjectivesTo determine the causes and predictors of mortality in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods Patients with SSc (n=5860) fulfi lling the American College of Rheumatology criteria and prospectively followed in the EULAR Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) cohort were analysed. EUSTAR centres completed a structured questionnaire on cause of death and comorbidities. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyse survival in SSc subgroups and to identify predictors of mortality. Results Questionnaires were obtained on 234 of 284 fatalities. 55% of deaths were attributed directly to SSc and 41% to non-SSc causes; in 4% the cause of death was not assigned. Of the SSc-related deaths, 35% were attributed to pulmonary fi brosis, 26% to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and 26% to cardiac causes (mainly heart failure and arrhythmias). Among the nonSSc-related causes, infections (33%) and malignancies (31%) were followed by cardiovascular causes (29%).Of the non-SSc-related fatalities, 25% died of causes in which SSc-related complications may have participated (pneumonia, sepsis and gastrointestinal haemorrhage). Independent risk factors for mortality and their HR were: proteinuria (HR 3.34), the presence of PAH based on echocardiography (HR 2.02), pulmonary restriction (forced vital capacity below 80% of normal, HR 1.64), dyspnoea above New York Heart Association class II (HR 1.61), diffusing capacity of the lung (HR 1.20 per 10% decrease), patient age at onset of Raynaud's phenomenon (HR 1.30 per 10 years) and the modifi ed Rodnan skin score (HR 1.20 per 10 score points). Conclusion Disease-related causes, in particular pulmonary fi brosis, PAH and cardiac causes, accounted for the majority of deaths in SSc.Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystem disease with vascular, infl ammatory and fi brotic components.

Objective. Pulmonary arterial hypertension related to scleroderma (PAH-Scl) is associated with high morbidity and mortality as well as poorer response to therapy and worse outcomes compared with the idiopathic form of PAH (IPAH). Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease that can affect left and right heart function directly through inflammation and fibrosis and indirectly through systemic and pulmonary hypertension. This study tested the hypothesis that an increased prevalence of left heart disease might explain the higher mortality in patients with PAH-Scl compared with patients with IPAH.Methods. The study was designed as a retrospective cohort study comparing the baseline clinical data from 91 consecutive patients (41 with IPAH and 50 with PAH-Scl). Cox proportional hazards models were used to predict the effect of clinical covariates on patient survival.Results. Patients with PAH-Scl had a lower mean pulmonary artery pressure (46.6 mm Hg versus 54.4 mm Hg in patients with IPAH; P ‫؍‬ 0.002) despite similar levels of cardiac dysfunction (cardiac index 2.2 and 2.1 liters/minute/m 2 , respectively; P ‫؍‬ 0.19). Echocardiography revealed similar degrees of right ventricular dysfunction in the 2 groups, whereas a predominance of left heart dysfunction was observed in patients with PAH-Scl. One-and three-year survival estimates were 87.8% and 48.9%, respectively, in patients with PAH-Scl and 95.1% and 83.6%, respectively, in those with IPAH. Patients with PAH-Scl were 3.06 times more likely to die than were patients with IPAH, after controlling for the presence of pericardial effusion; there was no significant change in increased risk of death in PAH-Scl after controlling for left heart disease.Conclusion. The results confirm that there are significant clinical and survival differences between IPAH and PAH-Scl. The presence of left heart disease, although more common in PAH-Scl, was not predictive of the higher mortality in these patients.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs that leads to profound disability and premature death. To identify novel SSc susceptibility loci we conducted the first genome wide association study (GWAS) in a population of Caucasian ancestry including a total of 2296 SSc patients and 5171 controls. Analysis of 279,621 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) followed by replication testing in an independent case-control set of European ancestry (2,753 SSc patients / 4,569 controls) identified a new susceptibility locus for systemic sclerosis at CD247 (1q22-23; rs2056626, P = 2.09 × 10−7 in the discovery samples, P = 3.39 × 10−9 in the combined analysis). Additionally, we confirm and firmly establish the role of MHC (2.31 × 10−18), IRF5 (P =1.86 × 10−13) and STAT4 (P =3.37 × 10−9) gene regions as SSc genetic risk factors.

Background Systemic sclerosis associated pulmonary artery hypertension (SScPAH) has a worse prognosis compared to idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), with a median survival of 3 years after diagnosis often due to right ventricular (RV) failure. We tested if SScPAH or systemic sclerosis related pulmonary hypertension with interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD-PH) imposes a greater pulmonary vascular load than IPAH and/or leads to worse RV contractile function. Methods and Results We analyzed pulmonary artery pressures and mean flow in 282 patients with pulmonary hypertension (166 SScPAH, 49 SSc-ILD-PH, 67 IPAH). An inverse relation between pulmonary resistance (RPA) and compliance (CPA) was similar for all three groups, with a near constant resistance × compliance product. RV pressure-volume loops were measured in a subset, IPAH (n=5) and SScPAH (n=7) as well as SSc without PH (SSc-no-PH, n=7) to derive contractile indexes (end-systolic elastance [Ees] and preload recruitable stroke work [Msw]), measures of right ventricular load (arterial elastance [Ea]), and RV-pulmonary artery coupling (Ees/Ea). RV afterload was similar in SScPAH and IPAH (RPA=7.0±4.5 vs. 7.9±4.3 Wood units; Ea=0.9±0.4 vs. 1.2±0.5 mmHg/mL; CPA=2.4±1.5 vs. 1.7±1.1 mL/mmHg; p>0.3 for each). Though SScPAH did not have greater vascular stiffening compared to IPAH, RV contractility was more depressed (Ees=0.8±0.3 vs. 2.3±1.1, p<0.01; Msw=21±11 vs. 45±16, p=0.01), with differential RV-PA uncoupling (Ees/Ea=1.0±0.5 vs. 2.1±1.0, p=.03). This ratio was higher in SSc-no-PH (Ees/Ea = 2.3±1.2, p=0.02 vs. SScPAH). Conclusions RV dysfunction is worse in SScPAH compared to IPAH at similar afterload, and may be due to intrinsic systolic function rather than enhanced pulmonary vascular resistive and/or pulsatile loading.