TY - JOUR T1 - Bosentan for Digital Ulcers in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis: A Prospective 3-year Followup Study JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 1550 LP - 1551 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.080992 VL - 36 IS - 7 AU - NIKI TSIFETAKI AU - VASSILIOS BOTZORIS AU - YANNIS ALAMANOS AU - EVAGGELIA ARGYRIOU AU - AIKATERINI ZIOGA AU - ALEXANDROS A. DROSOS Y1 - 2009/07/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/36/7/1550.abstract N2 - To the Editor:Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex autoimmune connective tissue disease characterized by cutaneous and visceral fibrosis and widespread vascular pathology1. Digital ulcers (DU) are a major clinical problem in SSc, occurring in about one-third of patients2. DU cause local pain and functional impairment and have a negative effect on quality of life for patients with SSc2. Therapeutic agents potentially used for management of DU include calcium channel blockers, α-adrenergic inhibitors, angiotensin II-converting enzyme inhibitors, prostacyclin analogs, phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, and others2. Bosentan is a specific orally active dual endothelin receptor antagonist that has been used for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and recently for DU3–5. The objective of our study was to examine the effectiveness and safety of bosentan for healing DU in patients with SSc over the long term.For a cohort of 110 patients with SSc, 30 patients with DU were identified. All patients fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology criteria for SSc6 and all were refractory to calcium channel antagonists, angiotensin II inhibitors, or sildenafil. … Address reprint requests to Prof. Drosos. E-mail: adrosos{at}cc.uoi.gr ER -