Scleroderma News

Use of the DETECT algorithm was a better screening tool for systemic sclerosis-associated peripheral arterial hypertension than transthoracic echocardiogram, according to results of a new study.

The classically defined diffuse subtype of juvenile systemic sclerosis demonstrates more globally severe disease and higher interstitial lung disease frequency, whereas the limited cutaneous subtype has more frequent cardiac symptoms, data shows.

A number of new therapies, including immunosuppressive drugs and drug combinations, have shown efficacy in mitigating scleroderma-associated interstitial lung disease, according to a speaker at the ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium.

Darker skin tones are “significantly underrepresented” in rheumatology clinical image banks, including the American College of Rheumatology Image Library and The New England Journal of Medicine Images in Clinical Medicine, according to data.

Rituximab was associated with more severe COVID-19 in patients with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, according to data published in The Lancet Rheumatology.

Patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease, but especially those with autoimmune conditions, as well as those treated with rituximab, may be at greater risk for severe COVID-19 pneumonia than the general population, according to data.

COVID-19 is more severe, with more complications and higher mortality, than influenza among patients with autoimmune disease, according to data published in Rheumatology.

The prevalence of Barrett’s esophagus was 12.8% among women with scleroderma, according to a study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

The FDA has approved subcutaneous tocilizumab to curb the rate of progressive loss of lung function among adults with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease, according to a press release from Genentech.

Fatigue and Raynaud’s syndrome were rated “important” or “very important” as barriers to physical activity in at least 50% of patients with systemic sclerosis, according to survey results published in Arthritis Care & Research.