Systemic sclerosis (SSc), previously known as progressive systemic sclerosis, is a form of scleroderma and a multisystem connective tissue disease which can impact on every aspect of anesthetic care, especially airway management. In this review we outline clinical manifestations and current medical treatment of the disease, and general principles of anesthetizing these patients. We focus on the...

Vessels and the vascular endothelium are involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory rheumatic diseases a family of related disorders that include rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and systemic sclerosis (SSc). In these conditions vascular involvement is very important. This chapter aims to give an overview of the prevalence of the different forms of vasculopathy/va...

onnective tissue disease (CTD)-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (CPAH) is the second most prevalent type of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) after idiopathic PAH (IPAH). CPAH is estimated to account for 30% of all adult cases of PAH. Approximately 15% of mixed CTD (MCTD), 10% of systemic sclerosis (SSc), and several percent of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients develop P...

BACKGROUND Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are essential in the control of tolerance. Evidence implicates Tregs in human autoimmune conditions. Here we investigated their role in systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Patients were subdivided as having limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc, n = 20) or diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc, n = 48). Further subdivision was made between early dcSSc (n =...

Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune connective tissue disease, characterised by fibrosis of internal organs and skin that leads to visible disfigurements to various body parts, including face, mouth and hands. The changes in these socially relevant body parts are associated with greater body image dissatisfaction, increased depressive symptoms, and social anxiety and avoidance behaviours....

Fibrosis is recognized as an important feature of many chronic diseases, such as systemic sclerosis (SSc), an autoimmune disease of unknown etiology, characterized by immune dysregulation and vascular injury, followed by progressive fibrosis affecting the skin and multiple internal organs. SSc has a poor prognosis because no therapy has been shown to reverse or arrest the progression of fibrosi...

Sir, Abramson et al. have recently presented a follow-up study of the pulmonary function in 66 cases with systemic sclerosis (SSc).' We have also performed a follow-up of spirometric function study in 52 patients with SSc by Pulmostar (Fenyves-Gut, Basel, Switzerland) volumestable equipment.2 The female/male ratio was 51/1, and 15 patients showed symptoms of diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis...

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multi-system disease characterized by skin fibrosis and visceral disease. Therapy is organ and pathogenesis targeted. In this review, we describe novel strategies in the treatment of SSc. Utilizing the MEDLINE and the COCHRANE REGISTRY, we identified open trials, controlled trials, for treatment of SSc from 1999 to April 2005. We used the terms scleroderma, systemi...

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex immune-mediated condition. related cardiac pathologies can be detected in an early stage using various imaging techniques. Aim was to study involvement patients with systemic sclerosis. Methods: The present carried out as descriptive hospital-based of 31 above 13 years age, either sex or who fulfilled American Rheumatism Association (ARA) diagno...