PLICOMETER SKIN-TEST - A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR THE EVALUATION OF CUTANEOUS INVOLVEMENT IN SYSTEMIC-SCLEROSIS

This study tries to establish a new method for the evaluation of skin lesion extension and progression in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. Plica thickness measurements of 200 healthy subjects and 19 SSc patie nts by plicometer were performed, and an arbitrary plicometer skin sco re was created. The plicometer skin score was compared to m-Rodnan's s core on the same patients. The statistical association between the pli cometer score and DLCO values in SSc patients was analysed. Plicometer plica thickness cut-off values of normality were established for nine skin areas. High specificity (95-99%) and a high negative predictive value (95.5-100%) were found. The sensitivity and the positive predict ive value were 52.6-100% and 52.4-90.5%, respectively. The coefficient of variation of the plicometer score (0.05-0.14) was lower than that of the m-Rodnan score (0.22-0.33). A statistically significant associa tion was found between skin score and DLCO. The study underlines the a ccuracy and reproducibility of the plicometer skin test, and suggests its utility in monitoring scleroderma progression.