SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may accelerate the development and progression of systemic sclerosis (SSc) through fibrosis (scarring), inflammation, autoantibody production, and blood vessel damage. That’s according to a study in South Korea that shows the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that’s required for the…
Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 are more likely to have worse outcomes if they also have systemic sclerosis (SSc), a study finds. This risk was assessed by a composite score that combined several clinical measures, including in-hospital mortality, invasive mechanical ventilation to help with breathing, use of medications to raise…
People with diffuse systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) — a form of scleroderma that typically involves more extensive skin damage — have key cellular differences depending on the specific self-reactive antibody they have, and on how far along the disease trajectory they are, according to a new study. These differences were…
People with systemic sclerosis (SSc) have poorer survival when they also have both interstitial lung disease (ILD) and pulmonary hypertension (PH), a study in Germany has found. Being a woman, having a higher body mass index — a measure of body fat — and better lung function were…
More than half of the people with systemic sclerosis (SSc) in a study were malnourished under recent French guidelines, one-quarter had severe malnutrition, and being malnourished associated with cardiac involvement, a study in that country reported. Gastrointestinal (GI) tract involvement, not surprisingly, also was evident in a majority of…
Skin symptoms not due to fibrosis or scarring among people with systemic sclerosis (SSc) sine scleroderma can associate with damage to internal organs, particularly the heart, according to a large data study. Among these symptoms, skin telangiectasias — marked by small blood vessels that widen near the skin’s…
A physiotherapy program improved sexual function and quality of life, while also preventing the deterioration in functional ability in women with systemic sclerosis (SSc), a study in the Czech Republic reports. The eight-week program consisted of a one-hour session, twice weekly, of targeted physiotherapy according to the patients’ needs.
Clinicians in Tunisia highlighted the importance of screening for self-reactive antibodies, or autoantibodies, in localized scleroderma cases after a 79-year-old woman treated a hospital in the capital city of Tunis was also diagnosed with pulmonary interstitial fibrosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension. In addition, the patient had self-reactive anti-Th/To…
People with systemic sclerosis (SSc) have poorer quality of life and survival when they also have pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and interstitial lung disease (ILD), a study in Australia found. Having PAH was associated with a poorer prognosis than having extensive ILD. “A better understanding of people with…
The degree of skin tightening is associated with changed levels of proteins implicated in inflammation and cell death among systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with pulmonary involvement, a study in India reports. The study established protein correlations among SSc patients with different types of lung disease, which might contribute to…
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