Clinical Outcomes of Myocarditis after Moderate-Dose Steroid Therapy in Systemic Sclerosis: A Pilot Study
Table 2
Clinical characteristics at baseline and week 24 after treatment in those who had improvement of myocarditis vs. persistent myocarditis.
Variable
Persistent myocarditis
value
Improvement of myocarditis
value
value1
value2
Baseline
Week 24
Baseline
Week 24
Female (%)
2 (50)
—
8 (100)
—
0.09
—
Age on enrollment (years);
—
0.83
Duration of disease (years);
—
0.03
Diffuse cutaneous SSc (%)
3 (75)
—
5 (62.5)
—
0.99
—
NYHA functional class at the end of study
0.99
I
1 (25)
2 (50)
II
3 (75)
5 (62.5)
III
0
1 (12.5)
Serology
Anti-topoisomerase antibody positive (%)
4 (100)
7 (87.5)
—
0.99
—
Anti-centromere antibody positive (%)
0
—
1 (12.5)
—
0.99
—
Clinical characteristic
Heart rate
0.96
0.15
0.049
0.042
Raynaud’s phenomenon (%)
3 (75)
1 (25)
0.15
4 (50)
1 (12.5)
0.38
0.58
0.99
Digital ulcer (%)
1 (25)
0
0.99
2 (25)
1 (12.5)
0.99
0.99
0.99
Edematous skin (%)
4 (100)
0
0.04
3 (37.5)
0
0.15
0.08
NA
Tendon friction rub (%)
2 (50)
1 (25)
0.99
2 (25)
1 (12.5)
0.99
0.55
0.99
Hand deformity (%)
2 (50)
3 (75)
0.99
5 (62.5)
4 (50)
0.99
0.99
0.99
Esophageal involvement (%)
0
0
NA
1 (12.5)
2 (25)
0.99
0.99
0.49
Stomach involvement (%)
1 (25)
0
0.99
2 (25)
1 (12.5)
0.99
0.99
0.99
Modified Rodnan skin score (points);
0.18
0.64
0.86
0.51
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (%)
1 (25)
1 (25)
0.99
1 (12.5)
1 (12.5)
0.99
0.99
0.99
Renal crisis (%)
0
0
NA
0
0
NA
NA
NA
Laboratory result
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (mm/hr)
0.76
0.01
0.50
0.79
C-reactive protein (mg/dl)
0.08
0.22
0.29
0.74
CK-MB (U/L)
0.49
0.04
0.52
0.18
hs-cTnT (pg/ml)
0.40
0.60
0.52
0.86
NT-proBNP (pg/ml)
0.92
0.80
0.23
0.51
Radiographic result
Cardiomegaly by chest radiography
3 (75)
0
0.08
3 (42.9)
1 (12.5)
0.32
0.55
0.38
Ground glass opacification by HRCT
3 (75)
—
—
4 (50)
—
—
0.58
—
Echocardiography result
LV ejection fraction (%)
0.23
—
Tricuspid velocity jet (m/sec)
0.87
—
Right ventricular systolic pressure (mmHg);
0.75
CMR finding
LV ejection fraction (%);
0.26
0.85
0.70
0.70
LV stroke volume (ml);
0.32
0.17
0.002
0.01
LV cardiac output (L/min);
0.44
0.18
0.20
0.01
LV mass (g);
0.90
0.56
0.17
0.19
LV mass index (g/m2);
0.99
0.52
0.30
0.53
RV ejection fraction (%);
0.74
0.46
0.71
0.73
RV stroke volume (ml);
0.25
0.83
0.01
0.02
RV cardiac output (L/min);
0.57
0.12
0.14
0.01
Pericardial effusion
2 (50)
2 (50)
0.99
7 (87.5)
5 (62.5)
0.50
0.24
0.99
1Comparison of clinical characteristics at baseline between those with SSc who had improvement of myocarditis vs. persistent myocarditis. 2Comparison of clinical characteristics at week 24 between those with SSc who had improvement of myocarditis vs. persistent myocarditis. CK-MB denotes creatine kinase-muscle/brain; CMR: cardiovascular magnetic resonance; hs-cTnT: high sensitivity of cardiac Troponin-T; HRCT: high-resolution computed tomography; LV: left ventricular; NT-proBNP: NT-prohormone-brain natriuretic peptide; NYHA: New York Heart Association; RV: right ventricular; SD: standard deviation; SSc: systemic sclerosis.
