Background: Pulmonary hypertension is a progressive and often fatal complication of the
scleroderma spectrum of disease for which no treatment has been proven effective in a …

Background: Knee and hip injuries have been linked with osteoarthritis in cross-sectional
and case–control studies, but few prospective studies have examined the relation between …

Objectives Ischaemic digital ulcers (DUs) are common in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc)
and are a cause of disease-related morbidity. In an earlier trial, treatment with bosentan, …

Objective To refine and validate the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS) as a
disease‐specific activity index for Wegener's granulomatosis (WG). Methods Sixteen members of …

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of iloprost, a prostacyclin analog, administered
intravenously in patients with Raynaud phenomenon secondary to systemic sclerosis. …

A 37-year-old woman reports that her fingers turn blue when they are exposed to the cold
and that she has fatigue, arthralgias, and a history of small, painful digital ulcers. How …

Objective To document disease activity and functional status in patients with scleroderma (systemic
sclerosis [SSc]) and Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) and to determine the sensitivity to …

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis of the skin and
internal organs that leads to profound disability and premature death. To identify new SSc …

Background: Lung inflammation (alveolitis) may cause lung fibrosis in scleroderma. Objective:
To determine whether cyclophosphamide treatment is associated with retention of lung …

Autoimmune diseases are thought to be initiated by exposures to foreign antigens that cross-react
with endogenous molecules. Scleroderma is an autoimmune connective tissue …