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See Latest ArticlesHigh frequency of corticosteroid and immunosuppressive therapy in patients with systemic sclerosis despite limited evidence for efficacy
Arthritis Research & Therapy, 03/10/09
Hunzelmann N et al. - Despite limited evidence for the effectiveness of corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents in systemic sclerosis (SSc), these potentially harmful drugs are frequently prescribed to pts with all forms of systemic sclerosis; need to develop and communicate adequate treatment recommendations is advised.
Methods- Aim was to determine the extent to which SSc pts are treated with corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents
- Data were analyzed from 1729 pts who were registered in the German Network for Systemic Scleroderma (DNSS)
- 41.3 % of all registered pts were treated with corticosteroids
- Corticosteroid use was reported in 49.1 % of pts with diffuse cutaneous (dcSSc), and 31.3 % of pts with limited cutaneous disease (lcSSc)
- Among patients with overlap disease characteristics, 63.5 % received corticosteroids
- 16.1% of the pts received corticosteroids with a daily dose ≥15mg prednisone equivalent
- Immunosuppressive therapy was prescribed in 35.8 % of pts
- Among those pts with overlap symptoms, a much higher proportion was treated with immunosuppressive agents vs diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis and limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis
- The most commonly prescribed drugs were MTX, Cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, and (hydroxy-)chloroquine
- Use of these compounds varied between medical subspecialties
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