Two years follow-up of an open-label pilot study of treatment with rituximab in patients with early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis ■
Karin Melsens, Karin Melsens, Els Vandecasteele, Els Vandecasteele, Ellen Deschepper, Ellen Deschepper, Valérie Badot, Valérie Badot, Daniel Blockmans, Daniel Blockmans, Guy Brusselle, Guy Brusselle, Ellen De Langhe, Ellen De Langhe, Michel De Pauw, Michel De Pauw, Claire Debusschere, Claire Debusschere, Saskia Decuman, Saskia Decuman, Liselotte Deroo, Liselotte Deroo, Frédéric Houssiau, Frédéric Houssiau, Jan Lenaerts, Jan Lenaerts, Yves Piette, Yves Piette, Kristof Thevissen, Kristof Thevissen, Marie Vanthuyne, Marie Vanthuyne, René Westhovens, René Westhovens, Sara Wijnant, Sara Wijnant, Filip De Keyser, Filip De Keyser, Vanessa Smith, Vanessa Smith
Objectives: Following results in open-label studies of rituximab in patients with systemic sclerosis, a Belgian three-centre initiative was launched to explore safety and efficacy of rituximab in early, diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc). Methods: Open-label study of 17 patients with early dcSSc, treated with two courses of rituximab, at month 0 and 6. Clinical examination, lung function testing, echocardiography, disease activity score (DAS) and functional status were performed at baseline and over 24 months of follow-up. Results: Modified Rodnan skin score (MRSS) changed significantly over time, with a mean of 25.5 (standard deviation [SD] 6.0) at baseline to 12.6 (SD 5.1) at month 24 (Mixed Model Analysis [MMA] p