Very early systemic sclerosis

Abstract

The early diagnosis of systemic sclerosis (SSc) can be very difficult, when most of the typical signs and symptoms are absent. For this reason, the approach to SSc has changed during the last decades because the importance of an early diagnosis and treatment has been widely understood. "Very early SSc" is identified as a condition characterized by Raynaud's phenomenon, puffy fingers, disease-specific autoantibodies, and microvascular alterations at capillaroscopy. However, reliable biomarkers able to predict the disease evolution are missing, and decision whether to treat or not to treat in the earliest phase of the disease remains a dilemma. Presently, the only feasible clinical strategy in very early SSc remains a tight follow-up program to detect in "real time" the onset of internal organ involvement, which may thus allow an aggressive therapeutic agenda.

Keywords: Classification criteria; Diagnosis; Very early systemic sclerosis.