Investigation of Coronary and Pulmonary Circulatory Parameters in Systemic Sclerosis

June 12, 2012 updated by: András Komócsi, University of Pecs
Aim: Determination of frequency and nature of coronary involvement (including epicardial and microvascular) among scleroderma patients referred for right heart catheterization.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

Systemic sclerosis (SSc)is a multiorgan autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. Cardio-pulmonary manifestation in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients has significant impact on the prognosis. Several elements of the heart and lung involvement encountered frequently in combination. Clinically apparent SSc cardiac involvement is recognized as poor prognostic factor, and in our experience it is the most frequent cause of death among SSc patients. Moreover arrhythmias, diastolic and less frequently systolic dysfunction considerably interfere with the quality of life of these patients. Cardiac involvement includes primary cardiac disorders like fibrosis of the contractile elements, ischemia due to the involved microcirculation and/or to the epicardial coronaries and some secondary ones like consequences of systemic or pulmonary hypertension.

Autopsy identifies fibrosis of the myocardium in up to 80 percent of cases. Its distribution is unrelated to epicardial coronary stenosis, and inflammatory processes are thought to play substantial role in its evolution. Microvascular disease (MVD) that causes reduction of the vasodilatory capacity independently from epicardial coronary disease (CAD), is known for several decades. Short term benefits from vasodilatory treatment has been also reported in some latest studies.

Symptoms of the elements of cardio-pulmonary involvement overlap and coronary abnormalities alike MVD were also found in asymptomatic patients. Recently prevalence of CAD is reported to be similar to gender, age and symptom matched controls. Atypical clinical presentations were predominant and nevertheless these findings indicate that SSc patients are not free from CAD.

Clarification the causes of reduced exercise capacity, chest pain and faint in SSc is a challenging task and requires multidisciplinary approach. Driven by its high mortality and due to the recent emergence of effective therapy SSc patients are regularly screened for pulmonary hypertension (PAH). Clinical presentation of scleroderma related PAH is unspecific. Fatigue, chest pain and dyspnea may be related to other organs, such as the lung, musculoskeletal system or the esophagus. The definitive diagnosis of PAH still depends on the results of right heart catheterization (RHC). As the non-invasive diagnostics are influenced and to some extent restricted by multiple clinical manifestations, RHC is performed liberally in symptomatic patients. Still a considerable proportion of patients who underwent RHC have normal pulmonary pressure and the cause of symptoms may remain obscure as cardiac involvement may not be correctly diagnosed or entirely overlooked.

We intend to characterize coronary artery disease in symptomatic SSc patients by means of a prospective cross-sectional study consisting of organized screening of SSc patients and systematic left heart catheterization (coronary angiography, and coronary flow reserve estimation) in all patients referred to RHC. Prognostic impact of the different manifestations are determined during five-year follow-up of the study.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

120

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Hungary
      • Pécs, Hungary, H-7623
        • University of Pécs, Hungary

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Systemic sclerosis

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • patients with rheumatologist established systemic sclerosis
  • informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • left ventricular ejection fraction <30%
  • severly (<60% of predicted) deteriorated pulmonary function

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Occurrence of angiography proven coronary disease
Time Frame: 1 year
1 year
Occurence of pulmonary arterial hypertension
Time Frame: 1 year
1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Overall mortality
Time Frame: 5 years
5 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Pecs

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 12, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 12, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

February 13, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 13, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 12, 2012

Last Verified

June 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 330/PI/2007

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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