Significance of the Raynaud phenomenon in systemic lupus erythemtosus

Objective To study the clinical significance of Raynaud phenomenon (RP) in systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE).Methods One hundred and twelve cases with SLE were divided into two groups according to the condition of RP and were analyzed retrospectively.The similarities and differences were investigated in system injury and laboratory examination in two groups.Results The occurrence rates of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH),interstitial lung disease (ILD),pericarditis,fatigue,pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in patients with RP were higher than those in patients without RP [89.3％(25/28) vs.2.4％(2/84),57.1％(16/28) vs.16.7％(14/84),75.0％(21/28) vs.39.3％ (33/84),67.9％(19/28) vs.33.3％(28/84),21.4％(6/28) vs.4.8％(4/84),14.3％(14/28) vs.1.2％(1/84) ](P ＜ 0.05 ).The positive rates of anti-cardiolipin (ACL) antibody,anti-RNP antibody,anti-Sm antibody and LA in patients with RP were higher than those in patients without RP [46.4％(13/28) vs.9.5％(8/84),75.0％(21/28) vs.33.3％(28/84),57.1％(16/28) vs.23.8％(20/84),17.9％(5/28) vs.2.4％(2/84)] (P ＜0.05),while leucopenia in patients with RP was lower than that in patients without RP [7.1％(2/28) vs.45.2％ (38/84)] (P =0.001).Conclusion Heart,lung and vascular lesions such as PAH,ILD,pericarditis,PE and so on are easier to occur in SLE with RP,furthermore the positive rates of ACL,anti-RNP antibody,anti-Sm antibody,and LA are higher than those without RP. Key words: Lupus erythematosus, systemic;  Hypertension, pulmonary;  Raynaud disease