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The role of local temperature and other clinical characteristics of localized scleroderma as markers of disease activity
Author(s) -
GarciaRomero Maria T.,
Randhawa Harkamal K.,
Laxer Ronald,
Pope Elena
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-4632
pISSN - 0011-9059
DOI - 10.1111/ijd.13452
Subject(s) - medicine , scleroderma (fungus) , cutoff , visual analogue scale , thermography , erythema , skin temperature , clinical practice , dermatology , surgery , physical therapy , pathology , physics , quantum mechanics , infrared , optics , inoculation
Background Determining the activity of localized scleroderma ( LS ) remains crucial for decision making, and reliable clinical indicators of activity are lacking. Our objective in this study was to analyze the utility of infrared thermography ( IRT ) in assessing the activity of LS according to existing clinical scales. A secondary objective was to study whether clinical characteristics of patients and/or IRT have any role in predicting the activity of LS . Methods In this cross‐sectional study, the activity of LS was determined using a visual analog scale ( VAS ), a dyspigmentation‐induration‐erythema‐telangiectasias ( DIET ) scale, and a localized scleroderma skin severity index (LoSSI). Local temperature was measured by IRT . Results We studied 56 patients with a median age of 14.2 years. The mean difference in temperature between the affected and unaffected skin was 0.29°C. The comparison of patients with active versus inactive LS (using a 50% composite score cutoff) according to differences in temperature was not significant. An exploratory regression analysis showed an insignificant association of difference in temperature and other clinical characteristics for activity of LS . Our relatively small sample size consisted primarily of patients with low to moderate activity, and the lack of a standard definition of activity of LS was another limitation. Conclusions There is a possible role for temperature and other clinical characteristics as predictors of activity of LS . More studies and better definitions of activity in LS are needed.