Scleroderma News

Women with diffuse systemic sclerosis had a significantly longer time to diagnosis when compared with men with diffuse systemic sclerorosis after the onset of Raynaud’s phenomenon, although the difference was small, according to study results.

Autoantibody negative systemic sclerosis was uncommon among patients with the disease and generally resulted in good prognoses compared with patients who showed positivity, according to recent data.

Patients with systemic sclerosis experienced greater levels of the CXCL4 protein compared with patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, liver fibrosis and healthy controls, according to study results.

Fecal calprotectin was a biomarker for gastrointestinal disease in patients with systemic sclerosis, when compared with patients with rheumatoid arthritis or primary Sjögren’s syndrome, according to recent research results.

Serum levels of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein and the complement activation product C3b were elevated in patients with systemic sclerosis compared with controls in a recent study.

Patients with systemic sclerosis were at enhanced risk for ischemic heart disease and ischemic peripheral vascular disease, according to recent study results.

The fibrotic process in a subset of patients with systemic sclerosis was influenced by circulating monocytes with elevated levels of versican and the chemokine CCL2, according to study results.

Revised systemic sclerosis classification criteria codeveloped by the European League Against Rheumatism and the American College of Rheumatology resulted in improved sensitivity in identifying patients with the disease, according to a study presented at the EULAR annual congress in Madrid.

Six-minute walk test results among patients with systemic sclerosis showed a possible link between decreased exercise capacity and vascular and heart dysfunction, according to recent study data.

Scleroderma and other connective tissue diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosis, dermatomyositis, Behçet’s disease and polyarteritis nodosa are uncommon but can result in multisystem disease including abnormalities in the GI tract. Gastrointestinal motility disorders have been most clearly associated with scleroderma (systemic sclerosis) and are the focus of this chapter.