The heart in progressive systemic sclerosis (scleroderma)
Template:DiseaseDisorder infobox
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Associate Editor-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]
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Overview
Severe complications from Progressive Systemic Scleroderma (Scleroderma) can include:
- Untreated high blood pressure that strains the heart
- irregular heart rhythm
- enlargement of the heart, which leads to heart failure.
It's generally thought cardiac disease is a major cause of death from scleroderma, or that it often contributes to death. Conduction abnormalities, myocardial and pericardial disease disease may also be common.
An angiography-based study of 172 patients has suggested patients who may have obstructive epicardial disease associate with scleroderma should be treated the same as patients without scleroderma.[1]
Pathology
References