title: [Incidence, prevalence and disease characteristics of systemic sclerosis in Split-Dalmatia County].
abstract: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a clinically heterogeneous generalized disorder which affects the connective tissue of the skin and internal organs such as gastrointestinal tract, lungs, heart and kidneys. It is characterized by alterations of the microvasculature, disturbances of the immune system and by massive deposition of collagen. Our aim was to to estimate the incidence, prevalence and disease characteristics of SSc in Split-Dalmatia County which has a population of 463,676 Caucasian people. A census of SSc cases for the period 2007-2009 was conducted using hospital records for case identification. Diagnoses were verified by medical record review. All patients were evaluated by the validated American College of Rheumatology criteria for SSc. The exact 95% confidence interval (CI) based on binomial distribution was created for the incidence and prevalence estimates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on 51 verified cases of SSc, prevalence was initially estimated to be 15.6 cases per 100,000 adults (95% CI 11.8-19.4), with an annual incidence of 3.2 new cases per 100,000 adults per year (95% CI 0.5-4.1). The ratio of women to men was 5.2:1. The median age of patients was 55.1 yr. This study establishes baseline estimates of SSc occurrence and characteristics in a large Croatian cohort consisting of Causation people. These data should facilitate research regarding the role of geographic and environmental factors for this disease in comparison populations.
authors.affiliation: Odsjek za klinicku imunologiju i reumatologiju, Spincićeva 1, 21000 Split.
authors.forename: Dusanka Martinović
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kaliterna
authors.forename: Mislav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Radić
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pavić
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*