What is CREST in Systemic Sclerosis?
CREST refers to patients with Systemic Sclerosis who have clinical manifestations of c alcinosis, R aynaud’s phenomenon, e sophageal dysmotility, s clerodactyly, and t elangiectasia.
The term is somewhat outdated and often misleading as it may give the wrong impression that it is distinct from Systemic Sclerosis, or represents a mutually exclusive category of SSc (patients with lcSSc, and to a lesser degree dcSSc, can both have some or all of these clinical manifestations).
It is preferable to categorize patients with Systemic Sclerosis in to one of three subgroups (lcSSc, dcSSc, ssSSc), with clear documentation of clinical manifestations and autoantibody status.
