Newswise — Systemic sclerosis, or scleroderma, causes the hardening of skin and connective tissues. Often, the disease harms other organs, such as the heart, kidneys, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract, and it can lead to death.
Within the population of people who have systemic sclerosis, those who have diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis often have a worse prognosis and higher mortality rate compared to patients with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis. Early diagnosis and treatment could slow disease progression, but, currently, there is no clinical biomarker to identify patients at risk for worse outcomes.
In a new study published recently in The Lancet Rheumatology, a group of scientists led by Monique Hinchcliff, MD, MS, at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and Francesco Del Galdo, MD,…