Abstract
Objectives: To establish the prevalence of the associated secondary diseases in patients with Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) attending a rheumatology specialty centre and to determine the frequency with which a secondary illness develops in those having RP, in absence of a well-defined secondary cause. Methods: 118 consecutive patients were evaluated. Medical history, physical and laboratory investigations entered into a database. Patients with primary RP and patients with RP who did not fulfil any diagnostic criteria for inclusion in a secondary form were followed up over a three-year period. Results: 63 RP patients were found with related conditions. 35 patients met criteria for inclusion in a primary RP group, 20 patients had ‘unclassifiable’ RP, of which two (10%) developed a well-defined disease. None of the primary RP patients developed a secondary disease. Conclusions: This study shows that less than 50% of patients with RP attending a rheumatology specialty centre have a connective tissue disease. Patients with isolated RP appear to have a benign disease, since primary RP remains as such, and only a small percentage of patients with ‘unclassifiable’ RP evolve into a well-defined CTD.
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De Angelis, R., Del Medico, P., Blasetti, P. et al. Raynaud’s Phenomenon: Clinical Spectrum Of 118 Patients. Clin Rheumatol 22, 279–284 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-003-0726-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-003-0726-1