Hypovitaminosis D in Systemic Sclerosis

To the Editor: We read with interest the articles by Dr. Braun-Moscovici, et al 1 and Vacca, et al 2 reporting a strikingly high prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) deficiency in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Their remarkable findings confirm the results of our work, to our knowledge the first controlled study to demonstrate an increased prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in SSc3. The renewed interest in vitamin D in autoimmune diseases gives us the opportunity to show previously unpublished data and make some observations about this issue. Our study comprised 60 patients and 60 matched controls3. 25OHD levels were lower in patients than in controls [median 23 ng/ml (range 3–92) and 39 ng/ml (14–138), respectively; p < 0.001] even after matching for season of sampling. Thirty-eight patients had 25OHD levels below 30 ng/ml; 4 patients fell in the severe deficit range (< 10 ng/ml), 17 in the insufficiency range (≥ 10 and < 20 ng/ml), and 17 in the mild hypovitaminosis range (≥ 20 and < … Address correspondence to Dr. Calzolari; E-mail: gilberto983{at}gmail.com