PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Pia Moinzadeh
AU  - Gabriela Riemekasten
AU  - Elise Siegert
AU  - Gerhard Fierlbeck
AU  - Joerg Henes
AU  - Norbert Blank
AU  - Inga Melchers
AU  - Ulf Mueller-Ladner
AU  - Marc Frerix
AU  - Alexander Kreuter
AU  - Christian Tigges
AU  - Nina Lahner
AU  - Laura Susok
AU  - Claudia Guenther
AU  - Gabriele Zeidler
AU  - Christiane Pfeiffer
AU  - Margitta Worm
AU  - Sigrid Karrer
AU  - Elisabeth Aberer
AU  - Agnes Bretterklieber
AU  - Ekkehard Genth
AU  - Jan C. Simon
AU  - Joerg H.W. Distler
AU  - Ruediger Hein
AU  - Matthias Schneider
AU  - Cornelia S. Seitz
AU  - Claudia Herink
AU  - Kerstin Steinbrink
AU  - Miklos Sárdy
AU  - Rita Varga
AU  - Hartwig Mensing
AU  - Christian Mensing
AU  - Percy Lehmann
AU  - Gunther Neeck
AU  - Christoph Fiehn
AU  - Manfred Weber
AU  - Matthias Goebeler
AU  - Harald Burkhardt
AU  - Michael Buslau
AU  - Keihan Ahmadi-Simab
AU  - Andrea Himsel
AU  - Aaron Juche
AU  - Ina Koetter
AU  - Annegret Kuhn
AU  - Michael Sticherling
AU  - Martin Hellmich
AU  - Kathrin Kuhr
AU  - Thomas Krieg
AU  - Jan Ehrchen
AU  - Cord Sunderkoetter
AU  - Nicolas Hunzelmann
AU  - The German Network for Systemic Scleroderma
TI  - Vasoactive Therapy in Systemic Sclerosis: Real-life Therapeutic Practice in More Than 3000 Patients
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.150382
DP  - 2016 Jan 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - 66--74
VI  - 43
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/43/1/66.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/43/1/66.full
SO  - J Rheumatol2016 Jan 01; 43
AB  - Objective. Vasculopathy is a key factor in the pathophysiology of systemic sclerosis (SSc) and the main cause for Raynaud phenomenon (RP), digital ulcers (DU), and/or pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). It is so far unknown how patients with SSc are treated with vasoactive agents in daily practice. To determine to which extent patients with SSc were treated with different vasoactive agents, we used data from the German Network for Systemic Scleroderma registry.Methods. The data of 3248 patients with SSc were analyzed.Results. Patients were treated with vasoactive drugs in 61.1% of cases (1984/3248). Of these, 47.6% received calcium channel inhibitors, followed by 34.2% treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, 21.1% treated with intravenous (IV) prostanoids, 10.1% with pentoxifylline, 8.8% with angiotensin 1 receptor antagonists (AT1RA), 8.7% with endothelin 1 receptor antagonists (ET1RA), 4.1% with phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors, and 5.3% with others. Patients with RP received vasoactive therapy in 63.3% of cases, with DU in 70.1%, and with PAH in 78.2% of cases. Logistic regression analysis revealed that patients with PAH were significantly more often treated with PDE5 inhibitors and ET1RA, and those with DU with ET1RA and IV prostanoids. In addition, 41.8% of patients were treated with ACE inhibitors and/or AT1RA. Patients registered after 2009 received significantly more often ET1RA, AT1RA, and IV prostanoids compared with patients registered prior to 2005.Conclusion. These data clearly indicate that many patients with SSc do not yet receive sufficient vasoactive therapy. Further, in recent years, a marked change of treatment regimens can be observed.