Recurrent changes of temperature make hands the most frequent region of interest for thermography in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and cooling of fingers may persistent even at the room temperature. The aim of this study was to evaluate dependance of temperatures in hand on a subtype of SSc, positivity to anticentromeric (ACA) or anti-Scl70 antibodies and a presence of interstitial lung disease (ILD). There were enrolled 29 patients with limited cutaneous involvement (lcSSc) and 10 patients with diffuse cutaneous disease (dcSSc). ACA were detectable in 15 patients in lcSSc group, anti-Scl70 antibodies in 14 subjects with lcSSc and in all of patients with dcSSc. High-resolution computed tomography was performed in 21 patients with lcSSc and all subjects in dcSSc group which revealed ILD in 10 and 8 patients, respectively. After acclimatization to temperature fixed at 21°C, all patients were submitted to thermography with handheld camera FLIR One Pro for iOS (FLIR Systems AB, Täby, Sweden) attached to mobile phone iPhone 11 (Apple Inc, Cupertino, USA). Measurements included average temperature (Tavg) over nailfolds in thumbs and fingers II-V as well as a difference of temperatures (TΔ) between metacarpus of the hand and its thumb and fingers II-V. Both thumbs (p<0,001) and fingers II-V (p<0,001) stayed cooler in subjects with dcSSc compared to lcSSc ones. This implicated significantly greater TΔ along thumbs (p=0,03) and fingers II-V (p<0,001) in dcSSc group. Those findings stayed significant even after the exclusion subjects with ACA from lcSSc group. A positivity to ACA in lcSSc group was found to be associated with significantly lower Tavg (p=0,033) and significantly more pronounced TΔ (p=0,025) in fingers II-V than the presence of anti-Scl70 antibodies. Temperature measurements stayed statistically independent on a presence of ILD in lcSSc group, but both thumbs (Tavg p=0,05; TΔ p=0,09) and fingers II-V (Tavg p=0,09; TΔ p=0,03) in dcSSc group stayed warmer in case of detected ILD. In summary, this study showed that control of temperature in hands was dependent on the subtype of SSc, the positivity of ACA surprisingly could worsen thermal control in lcSSc patients, while both thumbs and fingers stayed warmer in case of the presence of ILD but only in dcSSc patients.

ESDRLB020 - Utility of thermography in clinical assessment of patients with systemic sclerosis

50th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research. VIRTUAL MEETING