PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hani Jawa
AU  - Gail Fernandes
AU  - Olivia Saqui
AU  - Johanne P. Allard
TI  - Home Parenteral Nutrition in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis: A Retrospective Review of 12 Cases
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.110896
DP  - 2012 Mar 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - jrheum.110896
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2012/02/28/jrheum.110896.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2012/02/28/jrheum.110896.full
AB  - Objective To evaluate the effect of home total parenteral nutrition (HTPN) on the nutritional and functional status of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods Retrospective review of SSc patients from the HTPN database at the University Health Network, Toronto, Canada, from 1998 to 2010. Results In total 12 subjects (9 females, 3 males) with SSc were identified. At initiation of HTPN, the age was 48.75 ± 3.94 years and the median body mass index was 16.8 kg/m2 (range 12.3–21.3). This significantly increased to 18.3 kg/m2 (17.0–21.7) at 6 months and to 19.7 kg/m2 (17.0–24.6) at 12 months. The mean Karnofsky score at baseline was 58.00 ± 3.27, and the score at 12 months of 39.00 ± 13.29 did not change significantly. Conclusion HTPN improved the nutritional status of these patients with SSc but it did not improve their functional status.