Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan;21(1):77.
doi: 10.3892/etm.2020.9509. Epub 2020 Nov 26.

Epidemiological profile of systemic sclerosis in the southeast region of Romania

Carmen Bobeica  1 , Elena Niculet  2 , Mihaela Craescu  2 , Cristian Onisor  2 , Florin Bujoreanu  3 , Miruna Luminita Draganescu  4 , Ioana Alina Halip  1 , Laura Gheuca-Solovastru  5
Affiliations

Epidemiological profile of systemic sclerosis in the southeast region of Romania

Carmen Bobeica et al. Exp Ther Med. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a collagenosis, in which the microvasculature of the skin and internal organs becomes affected, followed by excessive deposition of connective tissue. It has been included in the group of rare diseases, and it seems to have had an increasing incidence over the last two decades. Statistics show, not only an increase in the incidence of SSc, but that of autoimmune diseases as a whole. The present study aimed to outline the epidemiological profile of SSc in the southeast region of Romania and to identify similarities and differences concerning the epidemiology of this disease in other countries. The current observational study was carried out on a group of 22 patients who were diagnosed with SSc and who were hospitalized at a university clinic in Bucharest. Our research revealed a higher prevalence of women suffering from SSc, with higher numbers suffering from the diffuse subset of this disease. In addition, we found that the majority of patients came from urban areas. SSc has an important impact on the quality of life of patients, thus opening the opportunity for studies to be carried out on larger populations of patients in order to identify epidemiological similarities and differences in various countries, as well as finding new experimental models useful for future research.

Keywords: autoimmune; collagenosis; epidemiological profile; microvasculopathy; skin fibrosis; systemic sclerosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
SSc group structure by sex: frequency distribution. SSc, systemic sclerosis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
SSc group ratios according to the environment of origin: frequency distribution. SSc, systemic sclerosis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Classification of SSc into disease subtypes: frequency distribution. SSc, systemic sclerosis.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Classification of SSc into comparative subsets by sex: frequency distributions. SSc, systemic sclerosis.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Classification of SSc into comparative subsets by environment of origin: frequency distribution. SSc, systemic sclerosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Barsotti S, Orlandi M, Codullo V, di Battista M, Lepri G, Della Rossa A, et al. One year in review 2019: systemic sclerosis. Clin Exp Rheumatol 37 Suppl. 2019;119:3–14. - PubMed
    1. Bobeică C, Tatu AL, Crăescu M, Solovăstru L. Dynamics of digital ulcers in systemic sclerosis. Exp Ther Med. 2020;20:61–67. doi: 10.3892/etm.2020.8572. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Masi AT, Medsger TA Jr. Progress in the evolution of systemic sclerosis classification criteria and recommendation for additional comparative specificity studies. J Rheumatol. 2015;42:8–10. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.141020. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Denton CP. Advances in pathogenesis and treatment of systemic sclerosis. Clin Med (Lond) 2015;15 (Suppl 6):s58–s63. doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.15-6-s58. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cottin V, Brown KK. Interstitial lung disease associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc-ILD) Respir Res. 2019;20(13) doi: 10.1186/s12931-019-0980-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources