Risk of Digital Vascular Events in Scleroderma Patients Who Have Both Anticentromere and Anti-Interferon-Inducible Protein 16 Antibodies.

Objective: To evaluate whether scleroderma patients who are double-positive for anti-interferon-inducible protein 16 (anti-IFI-16) antibodies and anticentromere (anti-CENP) antibodies are at increased risk for significant digital vascular events relative to patients positive for anti-CENP antibodies alone.

Methods: Sera from 165 scleroderma patients who tested positive for anti-CENP antibodies upon clinical evaluation were reassayed for both anti-CENP and anti-IFI-16 antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay testing. Patients who were positive for anti-CENP antibodies alone were then compared to patients who were double-positive for both anti-IFI-16 and anti-CENP antibodies.

Identification of novel genetic markers associated with clinical phenotypes of systemic sclerosis through a genome-wide association strategy.

The aim of this study was to determine, through a genome-wide association study (GWAS), the genetic components contributing to different clinical sub-phenotypes of systemic sclerosis (SSc). We considered limited (lcSSc) and diffuse (dcSSc) cutaneous involvement, and the relationships with presence of the SSc-specific auto-antibodies, anti-centromere (ACA), and anti-topoisomerase I (ATA). Four GWAS cohorts, comprising 2,296 SSc patients and 5,171 healthy controls, were meta-analyzed looking for associations in the selected subgroups.

New clinical and ultrastructural findings in hydroxychloroquine-induced cardiomyopathy--a report of 2 cases.

Hydroxychloroquine- or chloroquine -induced cardiomyopathy is a rare but potentially fatal condition. Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are often used for long-term treatment of rheumatic diseases and for malaria prophylaxis. Hydroxychloroquine- and chloroquine-induced cardiomyopathy have well-described microscopic features, with the classic electron microscopic findings of myelin figures (myeloid bodies).