Rheumatology Medical News

Become a Member Today!
Register

Most Viewed Abstracts

1. Report Shows Shift in Starting Salaries for Physicians

2. Rapid correction of low vitamin D status in nursing home residents

3. 2008 Exclusive Survey—Earnings: Good news for primary care income

4. Medicare pay-for-reporting effort draws fire from frustrated doctors

5. Allopurinol-induced recurrent dress syndrome: Pathophysiology and treatment

Your Article Summary

See Latest Articles

(Click the title below to leave the MDLinx Network and go to the Journal's Website)

Experience with rituximab in scleroderma: Results from a 1-year, proof-of-principle study
Rheumatology, 05/19/09

Daoussis D et al. – These results indicate that rituximab (RTX) may improve lung function in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). A larger scale, multicentre studies with longer evaluation periods are needed.

Methods

Aim was to assess the efficacy of RTX in SSc
14 pts evaluated:
- 8 randomized to receive 2 cycles of RTX at baseline and 24 wks in addition to standard treatment
- 6 pts (control group) received standard treatment alone
Lung involvement assessed by pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and chest high-resolution CT (HRCT)
Skin involvement was assessed both clinically and histologically

Results

An increase of forced vital capacity (FVC) in the RTX group vs baseline
Median percentage of improvement of FVC in the RTX group was 10.25%, whereas that of deterioration in the controls was 5.04%
Similarly, diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide (DL_CO) increased in the RTX group vs baseline
Median percentage of improvement of DL_CO in RTX group was 19.46%, whereas that of deterioration in the control group was 7.5%
Skin thickening, assessed with the Modified Rodnan Skin Score (MRSS), improved in RTX group vs baseline score

<< Previous
Measures and time points relevant for post-surgical follow-up in...

Next >>
Antiphospholipid antibodies and kidney involvement in patients...