View clinical trials related to Systemic Sclerosis.
Filter by:Small bowel involvement is still recognized to be associated with great morbidity and mortality in SSc patients, leading particularly to malabsorption and intestinal pseudo-obstruction. Intestinal disorders directly related to SSc have, in fact, been reported to be one of the most common causes of death. In a previous prospective study, we have demonstrated the high prevalence of small intestinal involvement in SSc patients, using upper intestinal manometry; in turn, 88% of our SSc patients had upper intestinal motor disturbances. However, to date, no authors have yet analyzed the course of upper intestinal motor dysfunction in SSc. The aims of this study were therefore to assess the 5-year course of small bowel motor disorders, using manometry in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), and to investigate for an association between upper intestinal motor dysfunction outcome and other clinical manifestations of SSc.
In an earlier clinical trial, RAPIDS-1, conducted in scleroderma patients with or without digital ulcers at baseline, bosentan significantly reduced the number of new digital ulcers versus placebo. The purpose of the present trial (RAPIDS-2) is to evaluate the prevention and healing effects of bosentan versus placebo on digital ulcers over a 24-week treatment period.
Scleroderma is likely caused by a combination of factors, including an external trigger (infection or other exposure) and a genetic predisposition. The Scleroderma Registry will conduct genetic analyses for disease-related genes in patients with scleroderma and their family members (parents, brothers, and sisters).
Systemic Sclerosis is a disease that may be caused by the immune system reacting against skin and certain organs. It is possible, that by changing the immune system we can modify the progression of this disease. Stem cells are created in the bone marrow. They mature into different types of blood cells that are needed including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. In this study, we will stimulate the bone marrow to make extra stem cells. Next we will collect the stem cells, select specific cells, and store them. We will then give high dose chemotherapy that will destroy the patients immune system. We will then give back the selected stem cells we collected. We believe that these selected stem cells may be able to "re-create" the immune system without the portion that causes Systemic Sclerosis. The purpose of this study is to try to discover if stem cell transplantation can help patients with Systemic Sclerosis. We will also try to learn what the side effects are of this treatment in patients with Systemic Sclerosis. We hope that this treatment will help to relieve the symptoms patients are experiencing, although we do not know if it will.
Systemic Sclerosis (also known as Scleroderma) is a chronic, autoimmune disease of the connective tissue generally classified as one of the rheumatic diseases. Systemic Sclerosis causes fibrosis (scar tissue) to be formed in the skin and internal organs. The fibrosis eventually causes the involved skin to harden, limiting mobility, and can also damage other organs. Excess Transforming Growth Factor Beta-1 (TGF-beta1) activity may result in the abnormal fibrosis characteristic of Systemic Sclerosis. An antibody against TGF-beta1 may modify pathologic processes characterized by inappropriate fibrosis. Genzyme Corporation is currently investigating a human monoclonal antibody (CAT-192) that neutralizes active TGF-beta1. This study is being conducted in the U.S. and Europe to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of repeated treatments with CAT-192 in patients with early stage diffuse Systemic Sclerosis.
Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis (SSc), is a diffuse connective tissue disease characterized by changes in the skin, blood vessels, skeletal muscles, and internal organs. The purpose of this study is to determine the safety and value of self bone marrow transplants after chemotherapy in patients with severe SSc.
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the toxicity of cyclophosphamide and rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin in patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis. II. Determine the efficacy of this regimen in terms of controlling disease in these patients.
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the safety and long term complications of total body irradiation in combination with cyclophosphamide, anti-thymocyte globulin, and autologous CD34-selected peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation in children with refractory autoimmune disorders. II. Determine the efficacy of this treatment regimen in these patients. III. Determine the reconstitution of immunity after autologous CD34-selected PBSC transplantation in these patients. IV. Determine engraftment of autologous CD34-selected PBSC in these patients.
This study will examine the effectiveness of two psychological treatment approaches designed to help people who have scleroderma with three important areas of daily living: pain, depression, and distress about changes in appearance. The study will also evaluate the impact of depression on the two psychological treatments. Because psychological approaches requiring a trained professional can be expensive and are often not available to most patients, this study will also look at the effectiveness of a self-help treatment approach.
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine whether defects in fibrillin-1 cellular processing are present in the tsk1 mouse model that carries a known FBN1 gene rearrangement and in a population of Choctaw Native American patients with systemic sclerosis who have a strong genetic predisposition to the disease. II. Determine the ultrastructural features of fibrillin-1 in these patients. III. Screen the FBN1 gene for mutations beginning at the regions homologous to the tsk1 duplication and latent transforming growth factor binding proteins in these patients and in an unaffected Choctaw control group. IV. Determine the correlation between fibrillin-1 abnormalities and clinical presentation, autoantibodies, and ethnicity.