Use of nailfold capillaroscopy for evaluation of disease activity in juvenile dermatomyositis: Results of a two-center retrospective study

Table 2 Clinical and laboratory characteristics of the studied groups (data from the day of capillaroscopy), n (%)

Parameters	Active JDM (n = 26)	Inactive JDM (n = 23)	P value
Age at onset, years, median (IQR)	6.0 (5.0, 8.0)	6.0 (4.5, 9.0)	0.755
Age at capillaroscopy, years, mean ± SD (95%CI)	9.69 ± 4.34 (7.94-11.45)	11.4 ± 3.9 (9.7-13.1)	0.156
Disease duration before diagnosis, months, median (IQR)	3.5 (2.0-5.8)	3.0 (2.0-5.5)	0.976
Disease duration before capillaroscopy, months, median (IQR)	36.0 (11.5-52.5)	56.0 (15.0-86.0)	0.161
DAS mod at diagnosis, mean ± SD (95%CI)	7.8 ± 1.9 (7.0-8.6)	7.7 ± 1.8 (6.9-8.4)	0.772
DAS mod at capillaroscopy, median (IQR)	5.0 (4.0, 7.0)	1.0 (1.0, 2.0)	< 0.001
Clinical features
Malaise	13 (50.0)	2 (8.7)	0.002
Headache	2 (7.7)	0 (0.0)	0.491
Fever	3 (11.5)	0 (0.0)	0.237
Erythema	21 (80.8)	8 (34.8)	0.001
Heliotrope rash	20 (76.9)	3 (13.0)	< 0.001
Gottron papules	25 (96.2)	7 (30.4)	< 0.001
Raynaud’s syndrome	8 (30.8)	2 (8.7)	0.080
Muscle weakness	17 (65.4)	5 (21.7)	0.002
Activities limited	11 (42.3)	3 (13.0)	0.030
Arthritis	3 (11.5)	4 (17.4)	0.612
Arthralgia	3 (11.5)	4 (17.4)	0.692
Calcinosis	3 (11.5)	4 (17.4)	0.692
Cardiovascular system disorders	3 (11.5)	1 (4.3)	1.000
Digestive system disorders,	1 (3.8)	0 (0.0)	1.000
Laboratory features
HGB g/L, mean ± SD	130.9 (13.8)	130.4 (12.7)	0.905
RBC (1012/L), mean ± SD	4.7 (0.4)	4.7 (0.5)	0.847
WBC (109/L), median (IQR)	6.2 (5.4, 8.8)	6.5 (5.8, 8.0)	0.667
PLT (109/L), mean ± SD	339.6 (67.7)	350.8 (72.7)	0.579
ESR (mm/hour), median (IQR)	8.5 (4.3, 17.0)	8.0 (5.0, 9.5)	0.393
Ferritine (ng/mL), median (IQR)	39.7 (32.0, 72.0)	40.0 (33.4, 58.1)	0.942
CRP (mg/L), median (IQR)	1.2 (0.2, 2.7)	1.4 (0.5, 1.8)	0.748
ALT (IU/L), median (IQR)	27.5 (13.5, 47.0)	16.0 (11.5, 21.5)	0.071
AST (IU/L), median (IQR)	34.5 (22.3, 43.8)	26.0 (23.5, 32.0)	0.061
Common protein (g/L), median (IQR)	70.0 (67.3, 73.0)	69.0 (66.5, 71.0)	0.622
Albumin (g/L), mean ± SD	40.6 (4.0)	43.3 (2.9)	0.036
Bilirubin (µmol/L), median (IQR)	7.0 (4.8, 10.3)	8.8 (5.5, 11.7)	0.312
CPK (IU/L), median (IQR)	107.0 (79.0, 198.0)	77.0 (54.5, 89.5)	0.022
LDH (IU/L), median (IQR)	260.0 (224.0, 341.0)	220.0 (198.5, 233.5)	0.006
Fibrinogen (g/L), median (IQR)	2.6 (2.4, 2.7)	2.8 (2.6, 3.2)	0.119
D-dimer (ng/mL), median (IQR)	254.5 (144.3, 421.8)	228.0 (174.0, 239.0)	0.903
RF (IU/mL), median (IQR)	4.6 (3.3, 6.3)	6.0 (4.8, 6.3)	0.284
Treatment at capillaroscopy
GC	22 (84.6)	12 (52.2)	0.028
Pulse-GC	8 (30.8)	0 (0.0)	0.005
GC dose at capillaroscopy, mg/kg/day in prednisolone eq, median (IQR)	0.4 (0.1, 1.0)	0.2 (0.0, 0.3)	0.019
MTX	16 (61.5)	12 (52.2)	0.623
MMF	2 (7.7)	1 (4.3)	0.623
IVIG	5 (19.2)	0 (0.0)	0.054

JDM: Juvenile dermatomyositis; IQR: Interquartile range; CI: Confidence interval; DAS: Disease activity score; HGB: Haemoglobin; RBC: Red blood cells; WBC: White blood cells; PLT: Platelets; ESR: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP: C-reactive protein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; ASTA; Aspartate aminotransferase; CPKA; Creatine phosphokinase; LDH: Lactate dehydrogenase; RFA; Rheumatoid factor; GC: Glucocorticoids; MTX: Methotrexate; MMF: Mycophenolate mofetil; IVIG: Intravenous immunoglobulin.