Raynaud's phenomenon is correlated with elevated systolic pulmonary arterial pressure in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

In patients with Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Raynaud phenomenon (RP) is frequently present and associated with pulmonary hypertension (PHT). Elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) is an indicator of PHT and can be estimated noninvasively. We attempt to explore the significance of RP in SLE and to correlate it with clinical and serological parameters of the disease. The study population consisted of 34 patients (age, sex and disease duration matched) who fulfilled the revised SLE criteria of the American College of Rheumatology, and were categorized into two groups: Group 1 had patients having SLE and RP (2 males/15 females, mean age 45 +/- 18 years) and group 2 had patients with SLE but without RP (3 males/14 females, mean age 40 +/- 14 years. Detailed cardiac ultrasound was performed including measurement of PASP, while clinical and serological features of both groups were collected and correlated. Significant differences were shown in the presence of arterial hypertension (P < 0.05), arthralgias (P < 0.005), arthritis (P < 0.05), myalgias (P < 0.05), alopecia (P < 0.05) and PASP (P < 0.0001). No difference was observed among the cardiac ultrasound indices and the ejection fraction between the two groups. PASP was significantly correlated with RP, while no correlation was observed regarding the disease duration. In patients with SLE, the presence of RP was associated with elevation in PASP. Further investigation is needed to clarify the significance of this relation.