Undifferentiated systemic connective tissue disease-"overlap' in Zimbabwe.

OBJECTIVE

To define the clinical characteristics of the overlapping, undifferentiated systemic connective tissue disease in one of the tropical African countries.

DESIGN

A descriptive retrospective study of records of patients registered on a special rheumatology clinic between 1989 and 1994.

SETTING

Harare Central Hospital Rheumatology Clinic, Zimbabwe.

SUBJECTS

All registered patients with systemic connective tissue diseases.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Numbers of patients, laboratory and clinical features of undifferentiated overlapping connective tissue disease.

RESULTS

The distribution for those who satisfied internationally accepted criteria for classification/diagnosis were: 48(52.8pc) rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 17(18.7pc) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 10(11pc) juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA), four (4.4pc) polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PMD) and 11 (12.1pc) overlapping connective tissue disease (overlap) and one unclassified disease. No pure progressive systemic (PSS) was registered. Among the overlap patients, five had SLE-RA, three SLE-PSS and one each for SLE-RA-PSS, RA-PSS and SLE-PDM overlapping clinical features respectively. In two patients with SLE-PSS, the criteria of each of the individual connective tissue disease were satisfied. Similarly, in one patient with SLE-RA and another with RA-PSS features, the criteria of individual disease were also satisfied.

CONCLUSION

In undifferentiated overlapping connective tissue diseases-overlaps occur in tropical Africa, the SLE-RA overlapping features predominate and are moderately severe diseases.