No association of atherosclerosis with digital ulcers in Japanese patients with systemic sclerosis: evaluation of carotid intima-media thickness and plaque characteristics.

Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) usually develop Raynaud's phenomenon, persistent digital ischemia and sometimes develop digital ulcers (DU). Several studies have reported an association of carotid artery atherosclerosis with SSc by evaluating carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in SSc patients. However, none of those studies analyzed the association between DU and carotid artery atherosclerosis in SSc patients. We examined the association of carotid artery atherosclerosis with digital ulcers by comparing SSc patients with (n = 48, 29.5%) and without (n = 206, 70.5%) DU. The demographic and clinical features of the SSc patients showed that young age, male sex, anti-topoisomerase I antibody positivity, severe skin sclerosis, interstitial lung disease complication and cardiac involvements were significantly prevalent in patients with DU. In addition, diffuse cutaneous type, anti-RNA polymerase III antibody positivity and severe skin sclerosis are more frequent in SSc patients with DU at the extensor surface of joints than SSc patients with DU at the digital tip. There were no differences in serum lipid level, carotid IMT or plaque score between SSc patients with and without DU, suggesting that atherosclerotic changes are not primarily involved in the development of DU.