Our aim was to investigate the sympathetic hyperactivity of systemic sclerosis that may lead to greater morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular events. We analysed the sympathetic (low-frequency) and vagal (high-frequency) components of heart rate variability, in supine and upright positions, in 10 patients with systemic sclerosis, 12 patients with primary Raynaud's phenomenon and 14 contro...

Anti-RNA Polymerase III has been recognized as an important autoantibody in Systemic Sclerosis and it is now included in the 2013 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for Systemic Sclerosis. With this manuscript we attempt to review the current data on anti-RNA polymerase II as it relates to Systemic Sclerosis.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a major complication of systemic sclerosis. Although oxidative stress, intima hyperplasia and a progressive vessel occlusion appear to be clearly involved, the fine molecular mechanisms underpinning the onset and progression of systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension remain largely unknown. Here we shows for the first time that an increas...

Significant advances have been made in understanding the genetic basis of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) in recent years. Can these discoveries lead to individualized monitoring and treatment? Besides robustly replicated genetic susceptibility loci, several genes have been recently linked to various systemic sclerosis disease manifestations. Furthermore, inclusion of genetic studies in design...

BACKGROUND Serous retinal and retinal pigment epithelial detachments resembling central serous chorioretinopathy developed in three patients who had paraproteinemias. METHODS The patients in this study were examined at two institutions, and their charts, photographs, and fluorescein angiograms were reviewed by the authors. Two patients had cryoglobulinemia and one had lgA, lgM benign gammopat...

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency and relative risk of bronchial hyperreactivity to methacholine in systemic sclerosis patients with or without associated Sjögren's syndrome. METHODS A prospective study of 56 patients with systemic sclerosis (42 with the diffuse and 14 with the limited variant; 24 with associated Sjögren's syndrome), 57 with primary Sjögren's syndrome, and 61 healthy contr...

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) in systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) is a rare and potentially lethal and devastating autoimmune disease, and yet the cause of it remains poorly understood. It is associated with tissue fibrosis not only in the lungs, but also other organs like the heart and kidneys. Although ILD can manifest itself in various disease presentations, ILD in systemic sclerosis is pa...

Systemic sclerosis is a chronic, progressive disease with an extremely poor prognosis. The incidence of malignant tumors in patients with systemic sclerosis is increased when compared with that of the general population. In certain malignancies, systemic sclerosis presents as a paraneoplastic process. The symptoms of sclerosis in the organs of the head and neck often overlap with symptoms of ma...

Systemic sclerosis is characterised by vascular endothelial damage. Platelets adhering to the exposed subendothelium may contribute to the inflammatory changes found in the vessel wall. Increased in vitro platelet aggregability in systemic sclerosis has been reported. In vitro platelet aggregation of platelet rich plasma obtained from patients with systemic sclerosis (CREST (calcinosis, Raynaud...

BACKGROUND The association between systemic sclerosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is well recognized. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been reported to play an important role in pulmonary hypertension. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between systolic pulmonary artery pressure, clinical and functional manifestations of the disease and serum...