To assess the prevalence and causes of hepatobiliary involvement (HBI) in systemic sclerosis (SSc), to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of SSc patients with HBI (SSc-HBI) and without HBI (SSc-non-HBI), and to compare both groups according to the cutaneous SSc subsets.
In all, 1572 SSc patients were collected in the RESCLE registry up to January 2015, and all hepatobiliary disturbances were recorded. We investigated the HBI-related characteristics and survival from the entire SSc cohort and according to the following cutaneous subsets: diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc), limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc), and SSc sine scleroderma (ssSSc).
Out of 1572, 118 (7.5%) patients had HBI. Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) was largely the main cause (n = 67, 4.3%), followed by autoimmune hepatitis (n = 19, 1.2%), and anti-mitochondrial negative PBC (n = 6, 0.4%). Other causes of HBI were as follows: secondary liver diseases (n = 11, 0.7%), SSc-related HBI (n = 7, 0.4%), nodular regenerative hyperplasia (n = 3, 0.2%), liver cirrhosis (n = 3, 0.2%), and HBI of unknown origin (n = 2, 0.1%). In multivariate analysis, HBI was independently associated to lesser risk of dcSSc (5.1% vs. 24.4%), and higher frequency of calcinosis (26% vs. 18%), left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (46% vs. 27%), sicca syndrome (51% vs. 29%), and anti-centromere antibodies (ACA, 73% vs. 44%). According to the cutaneous subsets, HBI was associated (1) in lcSSc, to longer time from SSc onset to diagnosis (10.8 ± 12.5 vs. 7.2 ± 9.3 years), sicca syndrome (54% vs. 33%), and ACA (80% vs. 56%); (2) in ssSSc, to sicca syndrome (44% vs. 19%), and (3) in dcSSc, no associations were found. HBI was the cause of death in 2.3% patients but the cumulative survival according to the presence or absence of HBI showed no differences.
HBI prevalence in SSc is 7.5% and dcSSc is the least involved subset. PBC is the main cause of HBI. Patients with SSc-HBI exhibited specific clinical and immunologic profile. Survival is similar for SSc patients with HBI.