Demographical variables and clinical characteristics of all patients with cSLE (total and per subgroup with/without follow-up capillaroscopy)
| Total, n=53 | Capillaroscopy follow-up, n=33 | No capillaroscopy follow-up, n=20 | P value* | |
| Female, n (%) | 47 (88.7) | 29 (87.9) | 18 (90) | 0.81 |
| Ethnicity, n (%) | ||||
| African/Afro-Caribbean | 21 (39.6) | 14 (42.4) | 7 (35) | 0.23 |
| White | 21 (36.6) | 13 (39.4) | 8 (40) | |
| North African/Middle Eastern | 4 (7.5) | 3 (9.1) | 1 (5) | |
| Asian | 4 (7.5) | 3 (9.1) | 1 (5) | |
| Mixed/other | 3 (5.7) | 0 | 3 (15) | |
| Age at first capillaroscopy in years, median (IQR) | 17 (14–17) | 16 (14–17.5) | 17 (14.3–17) | 0.14 |
| Raynaud’s phenomenon/acro-cyanotic symptoms, n (%) | 17 (32.1) | 10 (30.3) | 7 (35) | 0.72 |
| Age at onset in years, median (IQR 25–75) | 14 (12.5–15.5) | 15 (13.5–15.5) | 13.5 (11.3–15.8) | 0.22 |
| Prednisone naive, n (%) | 31 (58.5) | |||
| ANA at diagnosis, n (%) | 52 (98.1) | |||
| ANA+anti-dsDNA | 37 (69.8) | 23 (69.7) | 14 (70) | 0.99 |
| ANA+anti-RNP | 18 (34) | 14 (42.4) | 4 (20) | 0.10 |
| ANA+anti-Sm | 18 (34) | 11 (33.3) | 7 (35) | 0.90 |
| Cutaneous involvement, n (%) | 38 (71.7) | 22 (66.7) | 17 (85) | 0.14 |
| Nephritis, n (%) | 17 (32.1) | 11 (33.3) | 6 (30) | 0.80 |
| Neuropsychiatric involvement, n (%) | 8 (15.1) | 5 (15.2) | 3 (15) | 0.99 |
| Antiphospholipid antibodies, n (%) | 6 (11.3) | 3 (9.1) | 3 (15) | 0.33 |
| SLEDAI at diagnosis, median (IQR) | 11 (8–16) | 12 (8–17) | 10 (6.5–14.8) | 0.38 |
| SLEDAI at first capillaroscopy, median (IQR) | 6 (3.5–12) | |||
| SLEDAI at second capillaroscopy, median (IQR) | 2 (1–6) | |||
| Capillary pattern: normal/microangiopathy/scleroderma pattern, n (%) | 7/36/10 (13.2/67.9/18.9) | 4/21/8 (12.1/63.6/24.2) | 3/15/2 (15/75/10) | 0.44 |
| Disease damage present, n (%) | 6 (18.2) | 4 (20) | 0.87 |
*Χ2/Fisher’s exact analysis between the two subgroups.
cSLE, childhood-onset SLE; RNP, ribonucleoprotein; SLEDAI, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Activity Index.