Seasonal variation of Raynaud's phenomenon secondary to systemic sclerosis

Objective, Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) were assessed for 12 mont hs to quantify the seasonal variation in Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) in patie nts with an underlying connective tissue disease. Methods. Eighteen patients with SSc (17 limited, 1 diffuse type) were studi ed. Raynaud's attacks were recorded in a daily diary for four 2-week period s at 3 month intervals, Daily number and duration of attacks and overall se verity of RP were calculated for each 2-week period. Mean daily temperature s, measured and perceived, were obtained for each period. Results, In winter, patients had a mean of 2.9 attacks/day (SD +/- 1.1), da ily duration 70 minutes (SD +/- 48) and a severity of score of 4.1 (SD +/- 2.0) out of 10. All 3 variables correlated with ambient outdoor temperature and varied significantly over the 12 months (p < 0.001) with mean reductio ns of 48, 50, and 56% respectively from winter to summer. Only 3 of 18 pati ents reported no attacks during the summer period. The mean measured and pe rceived outdoor temperatures increased from winter to summer by 10.6 and 14 .3 degrees C, respectively. Conclusion. For patients with SSc, RP is a problem throughout the year. Sym ptoms may be reduced by about 50% in the summer months, but few patients ex perience complete relief.