A retrospective randomly selected cohort study of D-penicillamine treatment in rapidly progressive diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis of recent onset

Background Several uncontrolled studies in systemic sclerosis have shown that D-penicillamine may cause improvement in skin sclerosis, decrease the rate of new visceral organ involvement, and improve overall survival.

Objectives To undertake a single-centre retrospective randomly selected cohort study to examine the effects of D-penicillamine treatment on skin and visceral organ involvement in patients with rapidly progressive systemic sclerosis of recent onset.

Methods Eighty-four patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis who had received D-penicillamine within 24 months of clinically detectable onset of skin sclerosis were randomly selected from the systemic sclerosis cohort followed at the Scleroderma Center of Thomas Jefferson University. Employing a previously described severity scale, disease severity and skin involvement were compared from initiation of D-penicillamine to end of study and a correlated matched t-test was used to establish statistical significance.

Results At a mean ± SD duration of D-penicillamine therapy of 29·2 ± 5·5 months and at a median dose of 750 mg per day statistically significant improvement in skin (P < 0·01) and cardiac, pulmonary and renal involvement (P < 0·05) was observed. At last follow-up, 17 (20%) patients were still receiving D-penicillamine, 25 (30%) had discontinued it owing to disease improvement, and 18 (21%) had discontinued it owing to side-effects.

Conclusions In a population of patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis, with progressive disease of recent onset, D-penicillamine treatment at a median dose of 750 mg per day caused a statistically significant reduction in skin involvement and improvement of renal, cardiac and pulmonary involvement.