Observational Study of Treatment Outcome in Early Diffuse Cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis

Treatment outcome in early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis: the European Scleroderma Observational Study (ESOS)

OBJECTIVES The rarity of early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) makes randomised controlled trials very difficult. We aimed to use an observational approach to compare effectiveness of currently used treatment approaches. METHODS This was a prospective, observational cohort study of early dcSSc (within three years of onset of skin thickening). Clinicians selected one of four proto...

A prospective observational study of mycophenolate mofetil treatment in progressive diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis of recent onset.

OBJECTIVE A prospective observational study of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) treatment in patients with diffuse progressive cutaneous systemic sclerosis (SSc) of recent onset. METHODS Twenty-five previously untreated consecutive patients with recent-onset (< 24 mo) diffuse progressive cutaneous SSc received MMF as the only disease-modifying therapy. Modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) and affecte...

Disability, fatigue, pain and their associates in early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis: the European Scleroderma Observational Study

Objectives Our aim was to describe the burden of early dcSSc in terms of disability, fatigue and pain in the European Scleroderma Observational Study cohort, and to explore associated clinical features. Methods Patients completed questionnaires at study entry, 12 and 24 months, including the HAQ disability index (HAQ-DI), the Cochin Hand Function Scale (CHFS), the Functional Assessment of Chr...

Thymoglobulin and cyclophosphamide as treatment for diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis.

Augmented ICOS expression in patients with early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE Inducible costimulator (ICOS), expressed on activated T cells, and its ligand, ICOS ligand (ICOSL), expressed on antigen-presenting cells, have been considered a single receptor-ligand pair. Here we investigated the expression of ICOS and ICOSL in patients with SSc. METHODS ICOS expression on peripheral blood T cells, and ICOSL expression on B cells and macrophages was determined by...