Increased levels of anti-heat-shock protein 60 (anti-Hsp60) indicate endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases in patients with mixed connective tissue disease.

Heat-shock protein 60 (Hsp60) has been shown to provoke inflammation, and anti-Hsp60 may facilitate the development of atherosclerosis. In this study, we have investigated 30 patients with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and assessed anti-Hsp60 and their relationship to cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Out of 30 patients with MCTD, 15 had CVDs.

Clinical course, prognosis, and causes of death in mixed connective tissue disease.

Objective: To study the survival rate and prognostic indicators of mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) in a Hungarian population.

Methods: Two hundred eighty patients with MCTD diagnosed between 1979 and 2011 were followed prospectively. Clinical features, autoantibodies, and mortality data were assessed.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension in mixed connective tissue disease: successful treatment with Iloprost.

This paper describes a 61-year-old woman who presented with mixed connective tissue disease, which was complicated by the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Her condition worsened rapidly, with development of haemopthysis, tachypnoe and cardiac arrest. Doppler echocardiography showed a high systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (98 mmHg), confirmed by the right heart catheterization.