BACKGROUND Scleroderma is a clinically heterogeneous disease with a complex phenotype. The disease is characterized by vascular dysfunction, tissue fibrosis, internal organ dysfunction, and immune dysfunction resulting in autoantibody production. METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS We analyzed the genome-wide patterns of gene expression with DNA microarrays in skin biopsies from distinct scleroderma sub...

Background. Systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma) is a disorder characterized by fibrosis of skin and visceral organs. Pathogenesis of scleroderma is complex and is incompletely understood as yet. Autoantibodies in SSc represent a serologic hallmark which have clinical relevance, with diagnostic and prognostic potential. Objectives. To study distribution of clinical manifestations and to identi...

Fibrosis of oesophagus, lungs, heart, and kidney in the course of systemic sclerosis (SSc) may lead to dysfunction of the above organs or even patients death. Recent studies point out the role of angiogenesis and fibrosis disturbances in the pathogenesis of SSc. Heart fibrosis is one of the most important prognostic factors in SSc patients. So, the aim of our study was to examine cardiovascular...

Dear Editor: We read with great interest the article by Touré and colleagues published in a recent issue of your journal, entitled " Antiphospholipid Antibodies and Systemic Scleroderma ". In this study, they investigated 40 patients with systemic scleroderma (SSc) for the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs). Overall, they found aPLs in 23 (57.5%) patients. The most frequently encoun...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Advanced cerebrovascular wall calcification was recently observed at autopsy in 2 patients with systemic sclerosis. To further investigate this issue, we conducted a prospective CT study of scleroderma patients to detect intracerebral calcification. METHODS Thirty-seven consecutive patients with systemic sclerosis underwent unenhanced brain CT. Images were blindly inter...