Scleroderma News

CLEVELAND — Every patient with systemic sclerosis should be screened for pulmonary arterial hypertension every year, as early recognition, referral and aggressive treatment are necessary to improve long-term outcomes, according to Virginia Steen, MD, of the Georgetown University Medical Center.

DALLAS — Patients with interstitial lung disease associated with systemic sclerosis treated with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor nintedanib exhibited a 44% reduction in the rate of decline of lung function, as measured by forced vital capacity, at 52 weeks compared with placebo, according to data from the SENSCIS trial presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.

DESTIN, Fla. — Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features may potentially be the newest category of undifferentiated connective tissue disease, according to Judith James, MD, PhD, of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and the Oklahoma University Health Science Center.

DESTIN, Fla. — There is a close temporal link between cancer and the onset of scleroderma in patients with anti-RNA polymerase III, as well as Anti-RNPC-3 antibodies, with compelling evidence suggesting that cancer-induced autoimmunity is triggered by this process, according to Fredrick M. Wigley, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center.

More than 620 registered attendees from 45 states and 11 countries are traveling to Destin, Florida, this week for the 2019 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology, scheduled for May 2 to 5, according to David McLain, MD, FACP, FACR, where they will learn about a wide range of topics from speakers they may not hear anywhere else.

Sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent among men and women with inflammatory arthritis, with diseases-related factors impacting fluctuations in sexual function and reduced sexual desire, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

The New York attorney general, Letitia James, has filed a lawsuit against a Manhattan stem cell clinic and the physician running it for allegedly selling unproven treatments for lupus and other autoimmune conditions, among others.

All children suspected of having localized scleroderma should be referred to a specialized pediatric rheumatology center, according to recommendations published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Black patients with scleroderma demonstrate more severe pulmonary disease and higher unadjusted mortality compared with nonblack patients, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies are linked to an increased prevalence of interstitial lung disease and pulmonary embolism in systemic sclerosis, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.