Successful pregnancy in a women with system sclerosis while taking nifedipine

Article Abstract:

Systemic sclerosis (SS), or scleroderma, is a rare condition which is most commonly diagnosed in individuals who are 20 to 40 years old. SS is an autoimmune disease which causes hardening of the skin and swelling of the extremities. Women with SS may have a greater rate of infertility compared with the normal population, but this has not been confirmed. The rate of spontaneous abortions in women with SS has been found to be higher than the rate in the general population. The successful conception and pregnancy of a woman with SS who was previously infertile and was taking nifedipine daily to treat a foot ulcer is discussed. Nifedipine is used in the treatment of patients with SS to dissolve blood clots. The blood of patients with SS does not coagulate normally and the time that the body takes to lyse a blood clot is longer than normal. Not much is known about the use of nifedipine during pregnancy, especially in early pregnancy. In later pregnancy nifedipine can lower acute and chronic high blood pressure caused by the pregnancy and can inhibit premature labor. Therefore, the nifedipine may have actually helped the patient's pregnancy by correcting any of her abnormalities with blood clotting, hyperactive platelet function, and prolonged thrombolysis. The nifedipine may have prevented the development of high blood pressure during her pregnancy and prolonged early labor. Even though the patient was taking nifedipine, which inhibits early labor, she went into labor seven weeks early. Though premature, the infant was born normal and healthy. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Case studies, Autoimmune diseases, Pregnancy, Complications of, Pregnancy complications, Nifedipine

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Myocardial gallium-67 citrate scintigraphy in patients with systemic sclerosis

Article Abstract:

Gallium-67 citrate scintigriphy may be appropriate for evaluating older patients with systemic sclerosis (Ssc) for heart inflammation. Gallium-67 citrate scintigriphy is a non-invasive imaging technique that identifies areas of inflammation that correspond to the relative absorption of gallium-67. Researchers evaluated 16 patients with Ssc and 18 other age-matched patients (controls) for signs of heart inflammation with gallium-67 scanning. Four of the 16 patients showed strong evidence of gallium-67 absorption while one patient showed moderate evidence of gallium-67 absorption. The five patients with evidence of gallium-67 absorption were significantly older when symptoms of Ssc began than the patients with no evidence of gallium-67 absorption. These five patients were also older at the time of the scan than the patients with no evidence of gallium-67 absorption.

Diagnosis, Myocarditis, Gallium, Gallium scan

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Bronchial hyperreactivity in systemic sclerosis patients: influence of associated Sjogren's syndrome

Article Abstract:

Patients with both systemic sclerosis (SSc) and Sjogren's syndrome (SS) may be more likely to experience bronchial spasms. SSc is a system-wide hardening of connective tissue fibers. SS is a disorder that reduces the output of the salivary glands or tear ducts and is associated with a connective tissue disease such as rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers chemically stimulated the bronchial passages of 32 patients with SSc alone, 57 with SS alone, 24 with both SS and SSc, and 61 healthy volunteers. The chemical stimulation produced bronchial spasms in 50% of the patients with both SS and SSc, 42.2% of patients with SS alone, 25% of patients with SSc alone, and 6.5% of the healthy volunteers. Patients with both the limited variation of SSc and SS experienced more bronchial spasms than patients with a more system-wide variation of SSc.

Causes of, Bronchial spasm, Sjogren's syndrome

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