Mortality and causes of death in a Swedish series of systemic sclerosis patients

Article Abstract:

Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) have a substantially higher rate of death than people in the general population, but oral cyclophosphamide does not appear to contribute to this excess mortality. SSc is an autoimmune connective tissue disease. Swedish researchers evaluated the progression of disease and mortality among 249 SSc patients over approximately 6 years. SSc patients had 4.6 times the risk of dying during the study period as the general population. Half of the deaths were from lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, or lung cancer. Patients taking cyclophosphamide did not have a higher risk of fatal cancers.

Sweden, Patient outcomes, Mortality, Complications and side effects, Cyclophosphamide

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Survival prognostic factors and markers of morbidity in Spanish patients with systemic sclerosis

Article Abstract:

The extent of skin sclerosis and lung involvement may predict the clinical course of systemic sclerosis (SSc). SSc is a chronic connective tissue disease which can cause skin thickening, arthritis, muscle weakness, and organ dysfunction. Researchers in Spain studied 72 SSc patients to find relationships between symptoms and disease progression. Overall, 85% of patients were alive 10 years after symptoms began, but patients with skin disease confined below the elbows and knees, and those without significantly reduced lung function, had longer survival.

Prognosis

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Decreased serum biochemical markers of muscle origin in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

Article Abstract:

The authors determined that patients with ankylosing spondylitis seem to have lower blood levels of various muscle-based biochemical markers than people without the disorder. This may be due to deterioration of certain proteins.

Measurement, Physiological aspects, Creatine kinase, Ankylosing spondylitis

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