1,721,411 research outputs found
Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease at risk for Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) (so far referred to as very early/early SSc or pre-SSc).
No full textIn the last few years, a number of studies have been published on a condition characterized by Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc) marker autoantibodies and/or scleroderma-type capillaroscopic abnormalities and referred to as very early/early SSc. The present review is devoted to analyze pathophysiologic, clinical, and evolutive aspects of the condition that would induce to label it as Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease at risk for SSc and to split it into 3 subsets (i.e. RP associated to marker autoantibodies and scleroderma-type capillaroscopic abnormalities; RP associated to marker autoantibodies in the absence of scleroderma-type capillaroscopic abnormalities; and RP associated to scleroderma-type capillaroscopic abnormalities without any detectable marker autoantibody), which have been shown to carry different degrees of risk, but not the certainty, to develop overt SSc over time. This nosographic approach is instrumental to plan future studies devoted to investigate validated biomarkers heralding the development of major vascular disease manifestations as well as skin and/or organ fibrosis in patients at risk
The assessment of the patient with systemic sclerosis
No full textystemic sclerosis presents a great deal of variability among different patients in the extent of skin and internal organ involvement, the pace of the disease and consequently, the prognosis. In addition, the single patient, during his/her disease course, can present with distinct manifestations. Each patient must, therefore, be carefully investigated. The assessment should be adapted to the setting, i.e. clinical practice, clinical investigation, therapeutic trials. The clinician cannot confine the diagnostic process to labelling the disease. He must define the subset, the extent of internal organ involvement, and the type of lesions underlying the clinical manifestations, i.e. fibrotic lesions, reflecting irreversible damage should be separated from active lesions (such as alveolitis) which can be reversed by drug treatment. The clinical investigator must assure that his/her patients are comparable to other series. ACR criteria have been shown to not assure such comparability. To this purpose, a core set of variables to be assessed in any clinical investigation study has been proposed. Finally, the clinical researcher should enrol patients with active disease and must rely for his/her conclusions on feasible and sensitive to change measures. An OMERACT committee has recently reviewed the literature selecting those ready for use in clinical trials
Early systemic sclerosis: diagnostic criteria and work-up
No full textLa Sclerosi Sistemica (SSc) è una malattia generalizzata del tessuto connettivo caratterizzata da vasculopatia obliterante dei vasi del microcircolo, iperplasia dell’intima, ipotrofia della media e fibrosi dell’avventizia delle arterie muscolari di piccolo calibro e da deposizione di collageno e di altri componenti della matrice nell’interstizio. Questi tre ordini di alterazioni colpiscono, sia pure con una espressività variabile, la cute e gli organi interni bersaglio: apparato digerente, polmoni, cuore, reni (1)..
Therapy of systemic sclerosis
Full text linkThe treatment of the patient with Systemic Sclerosis has greatly improved in the last ten years, because of two kinds of achievements. A number of drugs have been demonstrated to be active in some disease manifestations like alveolitis, pulmonary hypertension and complicated Raynaud’s phenomenon. Some of these drugs namely cyclophosphamide and iloprost await to be confirmed as disease modifying agents. The methological approach to be made in clinical trials has been defined allowing to correctly analyze the results of published trials and plan future ones
Interventi in verde: come eseguirli e renderli efficaci
No full textPer una viticoltura moderna orientata sia
ad un miglioramento delle caratteristiche
compositive delle uve che ad un incremento
della redditività del vigneto, la gestione
in verde della chioma rappresenta l’ago
della bilancia su cui intervenire per ottenere
un giusto equilibrio tra produzione e
qualità del prodott
The European Rheumatologist’s curriculum
Full text linkL’Unione Europea dei Medici Specialisti (UEMS) è un organismo fondato negli anni ’50 allo scopo di promuovere la comunicazione e la crescita culturale di medici specialisti dei vari paesi della Comunità Europea. Essa si articola in Sezioni (Comitati), ciascuna costituita da esponenti di una singola specialità medica, in ragione di 2 delegati per nazione, uno in rappresentanza della rispettiva Società Scientifica, l’altro di quella professionale. In aderenz
- …
