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Follow-up of 151 patients with high-titer U1RNP antibodies

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Summary

We performed a longitudinal follow-up study of clinical findings in 151 patients with high-titer antibodies against U1 ribonucleoprotein (U1RNP) as measured by haemagglutination. Formal connective tissue disease (CTD) diagnoses were assigned and diagnostic transitions analysed.

One-hundred eighteen females and 33 males entered the study; the mean duration of follow-up was 7.1 years. Mean age at entry was 34.7 years; 73% of the patients had early disease (duration <2 years). Fifty-six patients (37%) presented with a definite diagnosis, most often mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD, n=40), followed by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, n=11) and systemic sclerosis (SSc, n=5). Of 84 patients (56%) presenting with nonspecific symptoms of possible, “undifferentiated” CTD, 58 developed MCTD, 4 SSc and 2 SLE. By the end of the follow-up period, 127 patients had developed a well-defined CTD; final diagnoses were: MCTD (n=97), SLE (n=18), SSc (n=12).

We conclude that CTD in the context of high-titer anti-U1RNP antibodies may be transitive and sequential in nature, although the diagnostic criteria for MCTD previously proposed by our group seem to delimit a clinically stable condition in most patients in this subgroup.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. From the Department of Nephrology, Hvidovre University Hospital, Denmark

    P. B. Frandsen M.D., S. Ullman, M. Høier-Madsen, A. Wiik & P. Halberg

  2. Department of Rheumatology, Bispebjerg Hospital, Denmark

    N. J. Kriegbaum

  3. Department of Dermatology, Rigshospitalet, Denmark

    S. Ullman & M. Høier-Madsen

  4. Department of Autoimmunology, Statens Seruminstitut, Denmark

    A. Wiik

  5. Department of Rheumatology, Hvidovre University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

    P. Halberg

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  1. P. B. Frandsen M.D.
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Frandsen, P.B., Kriegbaum, N.J., Ullman, S. et al. Follow-up of 151 patients with high-titer U1RNP antibodies. Clin Rheumatol 15, 254–260 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02229703

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