A Member of the University of Maryland Medical System In Partnership with the University of Maryland School of Medicine About Us Careers Ways You Can Help ettin! Here Contact Us Search "ind a #octor Ma$e an Appointment Patients % &isitors Centers and Services Health Information 'esearch % Clinical (rials "or Health Professionals )ews % *vents Print the Pa!e *mail the Pa!e Aa Aa Aa Home Health Information Medical 'eference uide In+#epth Patient *ducation 'eports Articles SclerodermaSclerodermaDescriptionAn in+depth report on the causes, dia!nosis, and treatment of scleroderma- Alternative NamesSystemic sclerosis. /ocali0ed scleroderma HighlightsOverview Scleroderma is an uncommon, comple1, autoimmune disease- (he body2s immune systemattac$s its own tissues- It affects the s$in by causin! hardened tissue or ulcers and may harm the internal or!ans- #octors have made pro!ress developin! treatments to reduce symptoms, but there is no cure- (here are two ma3or forms of the disease- Systemic scleroderma is a serious condition, while locali0ed scleroderma carries a !ood pro!nosis and normal lifespan- In children, locali0ed scleroderma is three times more common than the systemic form of the disease- (he cause and course of the disease is unclear, and more research is needed to assess treatment options-Treatment(reatment involves a combination approach to treat the immune response, improve circulation, and stop the pro!ression of s$in symptoms- Several medications and therapies are in the very early phases of study for scleroderma- (hese a!ents show some promise, but additional study is needed to define their use4 5osentan is currently under study in the US for systemic scleroderma- It is already approved by the "ood and #ru! Administration 6"#A7 for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension- (wo trials have demonstrated a reduction of new s$in ulcers for certain scleroderma patients after ta$in! 5osentan- (he dru! was approved in *urope in 899: forthe treatment of s$in ulcers related to scleroderma- *arly study results on a very small number of patients show some promise after non+myeloablative autolo!ous haemopoietic stem+cell transplantation 6HSC(7 for those with severe disease- /on!er follow up and further study is needed to learn if this treatment wor$s and for which patients, as well as to evaluate its safety- Some biolo!ic dru!s ++ such as ritu1imab 6'itu1an7 and Imatinib mesylate 6leevac7, used to treat certain cancers and illnesses that involve an overactive immune system ++ may play a role in treatin! scleroderma- However, lar!er scale, randomi0ed, multi+center studies are necessary to determine whether they are beneficial-New Guidelines (he Canadian Scleroderma 'esearch roup 6CS'7 convened an e1pert panel in the areaof nutrition to develop new recommendations in the screenin! and mana!ement of nutritional disorders related to scleroderma- 'ecommendations cover areas of evaluation, referral, medications, and nutritional therapies- (he *uropean /ea!ue A!ainst 'heumatism 6*U/A'7, with e1perts from *urope, the United States, and ;apan, has developed