Immunochip analysis identifies multiple susceptibility loci for systemic sclerosis.

In this study, 1,833 systemic sclerosis (SSc) cases and 3,466 controls were genotyped with the Immunochip array. Classical alleles, amino acid residues, and SNPs across the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region were imputed and tested. These analyses resulted in a model composed of six polymorphic amino acid positions and seven SNPs that explained the observed significant associations in the region.

[Long-term effects of cyclic therapy with iloprost in systemic sclerosis].

Objective: To assess the long-term effects of cyclic infusion of iloprost, a derivative of prostacyclin, on Raynaud's phenomenon-related symptoms and ischemic ulcers in patients with Systemic Sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected parameters in 59 consecutive SSc patients, followed at one institution, who were treated for a median time of 52 months with iloprost for severe Raynaud's phenomenon and ischemic ulcers.

Results: Among the 50 patients with ischemic ulcers at the start of therapy, 35 (70%) did not show lesions at the last observation.

Systemic sclerosis therapy with iloprost: a prospective observational study of 30 patients treated for a median of 3 years.

Iloprost is useful in the short-term treatment of severe Raynaud's phenomenon and ischaemic ulcers in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), but its long-term effects are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to report long-term outcome (median follow-up 36 months) in a prospective observational study of a cohort of 30 consecutive patients with SSc who received iloprost therapy with maintenance infusions every 3 weeks after an initial cycle of 5 consecutive days. At the end of the observation, compared to the pretreatment point, we observed complete healing of digital ulcers in 19/21 patients (90%), a decrease of the Raynaud's phenomenon visual analogue score from 10/10 (25th-75th percentile 7-10) to 5/10 (4-6.