When polyarteritis nodosa isn’t PAN: Two cases of mimics, segmental arterial mediolysis (SAM) & vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (vEDS), are explored.
Heated Gloves Provide Relief from Hand Pain, Dysfunction in Diffuse Systemic Sclerosis
Raynaud’s phenomenon in scleroderma or systemic sclerosis (SSc) is associated with significant discomfort and functional disability, especially in the presence of digital ulcers.1 Having lived with diffuse systemic sclerosis (dSSc) for nearly a decade, I can attest to this. It has been my experience that the hand pain and dysfunction in dSSc stems from Raynaud’s…
Heated Gloves May Improve Hand Function in Diffuse Systemic Sclerosis
Systemic sclerosis (SSc), a subtype of scleroderma, is a rare, complex autoimmune disease characterized by widespread vasculopathy of the small arteries and fibroblast dysfunction.1,2 It has been described as a fibrosing microvascular disease, because vascular injury precedes and leads to tissue fibrosis.3 The resulting Raynaud’s phenomenon, pain, skin thickening and tightening, and multi-organ involvement have…
Targeted Therapy for Scleroderma Fibrosis
Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis (SSc), is an autoimmune disease characterized by vasculopathy and fibrosis. Although relatively rare, with a prevalence in North America of approximately 300 per 1 million people, SSc is associated with significant morbidity and high rates of mortality.1 Patients with scleroderma have four times greater mortality than age- and sex-matched controls, with…
Varicella Zoster Virus May Cause Giant Cell Arteritis
Researchers have recently discovered a connection between the varicella zoster virus infection, which causes chicken pox and shingles, and giant cell arteritis…
ADA2 Mutation Connects Vascular Pathology to Immunodeficiency
Two new studies that examine the effects of a genetic defect in adenosine deaminase 2 may advance a gene-based definition of vasculopathy
Fellow’s Forum Case Report: True Vasculitis or Vasculitis Mimic?
Rheumatologists face the emerging picture of cocaine and levamisole-associated vasculopathy in clinical practice