| Scleroderma Medical News by Date |
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| August 2008 |
| Identification Of Major Heath Problems Of Patients With Limited Systemic Sclerosis And Diffuse Systemic Sclerosis - Ailments Reported By Patients Versus Diagnostic Tests. Joint pain, which is characteristic for early SSc as well as ulceration and finger dysaesthesia may cause significant difficulties in self-care activities; alimentary tract problems affect mainly lSSc patients; SSc-related lung lesions are more often observed in dSSc patients. Subjective symptoms do not always indicate the progression of lesions observed in diagnostic tests. M. Sierakowska FRI0507-AHP EULAR 2008. (Also see: Scleroderma Symptoms) |
| Antiphospholipid Antibodies (aPL) And Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Rheumatoid Arthritis And Systemic Sclerosis. The frequency of aPL was high in rheumatic diseases. The titres of aPL were higher in rheumatic diseases than controls and in patients with APS manifestations than without. A full positive profile with high titres more likely identified patients at higher risk of APS related events. N. A. Fathi AB0974-AHP. EULAR 2008. (Also see: Antibodies and Blood Tests) |
| Serologic Profile And Mortality Rates Of Scleroderma Renal Crisis (SRC) In Italy. SRC is a rare manifestation of systemic scleroderma in Italy but it is still associated with a severe prognosis. The autoimmune profile in SRC does not seem to be specifically associated with anti-RNAP I-III in our series, while there is a relative increase of anti-topo I positive patients. V. Codullo. FRI0256. EULAR 2008. (Also see: Renal Involvement) |
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| Exercise-induced pulmonary hypertension common in systemic sclerosis. It is extremely important that these high risk patients (limited scleroderma with long-standing disease, patients with anti-centromere antibody, or a nucleolar pattern on ANA testing) have yearly pulmonary function tests and echocardiograms. (Reuters Health) Medical Imaging. 08/06/08. (Also see: Pulmonary Hypertension) |
| A Vascular endothelial growth factor (Vegf) Deficiency Characterizes Scleroderma Interstitial Lung Disease. Scleroderma lung disease is characterized by a VEGF deficiency. Lower bronchoalveolar lavage fluid VEGF levels were found in the patients with a worse lung involvement and with the progression of pulmonary disease. M. De Santis. FRI0258. EULAR 2008. (Also see Pulmonary Fibrosis) |
| The Effects Of Sitaxentan In Scleroderma-Associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (SSc-PAH) Are Analogous To Those Seen In Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (iPAH) The response to sitaxentan monotherapy over 1 year was similar between SSc-PAH and iPAH patients, despite baseline differences including worse baseline 6MWD in SSc-PAH and more SSc-PAH patients in FC II. Overall, sitaxentan was well tolerated and effective in SSc-PAH. However, patients with SSc-PAH may do better if detected early (before 6MWD is so reduced), so a high awareness from rheumatologists is paramount. J.E. Pope. SAT0218. EULAR 2008. (Also see: PAH) |
| Color Doppler Ultrasonography of Hand and Finger Arteries to Differentiate Primary from Secondary Forms of Raynaud's Phenomenon (RP). Digital artery ultrasound depicts the same anatomical structures as angiography, but it is a cheaper, faster, and noninvasive method of differentiating primary versus secondary RP. Wolfgan A. Schmidt. J Rheumatol July 15 2008. (Also see: Raynaud's) |
| Prince: Prognostic Index For Nailfold Capillaroscopic Examination For Identifying Raynaud's Phenomenon (RP) At High Risk Of Developing Into A Scleroderma Spectrum Disorder. Our prognostic capillaroscopic index identifies RP patients at high risk of developing scleroderma spectrum disorders. Our results suggest that this index could be used in clinical practice, and its further inclusion in prospective studies will undoubtedly help to explore its potential in predicting treatment response. F. Ingegnoli. SAT0421.EULAR 2008. (Also see: Raynaud's and Capillaroscopy) |
| Fear Of Progression: Forms Of Fear-Expressions In Patients With Rheumatic Diseases. Fear of Progression is a high relevant problem for patients with rheumatic diseases, can differentiated in a variety of fear-expressions in intensity, forms, contents and can be reduced by individual learned coping-strategies. U. Engst-Hastreiter SAT0493-AHP EULAR 2008. (Also see: Mortality and Prognosis) |
| The Economic Burden Of Scleroderma. These results indicate significant medical costs in SSc. Our estimates of annual averages for direct medical cost components in SSc suggest that the economic burden of SSc may exceed that of RA. Further work is in progress to more completely define the economic burden of SSc in our sample. S. Bernatsky. FRI0249. EULAR 2008. (Also see: About Scleroderma) |
| Changes in Eye Pressure and Anterior Chamber Depth With Oral Endothelin Antagonist Therapy: Clinical Trials. We hypothesize that the rate of structural damage to the nerve fiber layer (NFL), a feature of glaucoma, is higher in patients with PH than expected in healthy populations lacking this disease. This study is currently recruiting participants. ClinicalTrials.gov University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (Also see: PH and Eye Involvement ) |
| Early Screening For Pulmonary Hypertension In Scleroderma. Non-invasive assessment of pulmonary circulation during stress enables screening for early pulmonary hypertension in scleroderma. F.Reichenberger. SAT0220. EULAR 2008. (Also see: Pulmonary Hypertension ) |
| Pregnancy Outcome In Egyptian Scleroderma Patients. The subclinical vasculopathy occurring during and even before disease onset can explain the higher proportion of abortions, premature children and delay in conception of the SSc patients. There is an association between myositis and reduced abortion which needs further investigation including the effect of the drugs used should be considered. H.E. El-Sherif. FRI0267. EULAR 2008. (Also see; Pregnancy and Scleroderma, and Myositis ) |
| Nodular Scleroderma: A Report of 2 Cases. Nodular scleroderma, also known as keloidal scleroderma, is a rare form of scleroderma that may occur with either systemic sclerosis or localized scleroderma. American Journal of Dermatopathology. 30(4):385-388, August 2008.(Also see: Types of Scleroderma ) |
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