SCLERODERMA-ASSOCIATED PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION: EARLY DETECTION FOR BETTER OUTCOMES

Course overview

SCLERODERMA (ENCOMPASSING LOCALIZED SCLERODERMA AND THE MORE SERIOUS FORM OF SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS) IS A RELATIVELY RARE AUTOIMMUNE CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISEASE (CTD) THAT PREDOMINANTLY AFFECTS WOMEN AGED 30 TO 50 YEARS, AFFECTING BETWEEN 75,000 TO 100,000 PEOPLE IN THE US AND IS MORE COMMON IN PEOPLE WHO HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS WITH OTHER AUTOIMMUNE CTDS. SCLERODERMA, PARTICULARLY SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS (SSC), IS ASSOCIATED WITH SUBSTANTIAL MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY. AN ELEVATED RISK OF DEVELOPING THE POTENTIALLY LIFE-THREATENING COMPLICATION OF PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION (PAH) IS OF GREAT CONCERN. PAH IS A CHRONIC, PROGRESSIVE TYPE OF PULMONARY HYPERTENSION (PH) CHARACTERIZED BY ABNORMALLY HIGH PRESSURE IN THE PULMONARY VASCULATURE. THIS ACTIVITY FOCUSES ON THE SIGNS, SYMPTOMS, DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA, AND TREATMENT STRATEGIES CLINICIANS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TO PROMPTLY DIAGNOSE AND TREAT PAH IN SCLERODERMA PATIENTS.