Systemic lupus erythematosus and Raynaud’s phenomenon

Background: patients with systemic lupus erythematosus seem to belong to different serological and clinical subgroups of the disease. genetic background can cause the appearance of these subgroups. objective: to determine whether brazilian patients who have systemic lupus erythematosus and raynaud’s phenomenon differ from those who do not. methods: retrospective analysis of 373 medical records of systemic lupus erythematosus patients studied for demographic,clinical and serological data. a comparative analysis was performed of individuals with and without rp. results: there was a positive association between raynaud’s phenomenon and age at diagnosis (p=0.02),presence of anti-sm (p=0.01) antibodies and anti-rnp (p<0.0001). furthermore,a negative association was found between raynaud’s phenomenon and hemolysis (p=0.01),serositis (p=0.01),glomerulonephritis (p=0.0004) and igm acl (p=0.004) antibodies. conclusion: raynaud’s phenomenon patients appear to belong to a systemic lupus erythematosus subset with a spectrum of clinical manifestations located in a more benign pole of the disease. © 2015 by anais brasileiros de dermatologia.