Systemic sclerosis & Raynaud's
Temporal trends in vascular medication use in 8079 patients with systemic sclerosis: insights to inform future trials and therapeutic strategies from the EUSTAR cohort
Authors' conclusion
A significant change has occurred over time in vascular medication use in SSc patients, with increased utilization of ERA, PDE5i, CCB and anti-platelet therapies suggesting the adoption of more proactive and/or preventive treatment strategies.
Study context
- Population
- Systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients enrolled in the EUSTAR database meeting 2013 ACR/EULAR SSc criteria
- Participants
- 8,079 patients
- Exposure
- 2012-2017 vs 2018-2022
- Outcome
- Patterns of vascular medication use (ERA, PDE5i, CCB, intravenous iloprost, antiplatelet therapies) and changes over time
Methodological detailsEUSTAR database, logistic regression
- EUSTAR database
- Logistic regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Vascular medication use
- Endothelin receptor antagonists (ERA) use, 2012-2017 to 2018-2022 (P < 0.001)
- 7% to 12%
- PDE5i use, 2012-2017 to 2018-2022 (P = 0.064)
- 5.4% to 7.2%
- Calcium channel blockers (CCB) use, 2012-2017 to 2018-2022 (P < 0.001)
- 20% to 32%
- Anti-platelet therapy use, 2012-2017 to 2018-2022 (P < 0.001)
- 15% to 20%
- Iloprost use, 2012-2017 to 2018-2022 (P < 0.001)
- 3.1% to 0.3%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Prevalence of active digital ulcers
- Active digital ulcers (DU), 2012-2017 to 2018-2022 (P = 0.040)
- 16% to 13%
History of digital ulcers
- History of DU, 2012-2017 to 2018-2022 (P < 0.001)
- 24% to 30%
Parts of this Brief are withheld: the automatic checks could not confirm them against the abstract.
Original publication
Temporal trends in vascular medication use in 8079 patients with systemic sclerosis: insights to inform future trials and therapeutic strategies from the EUSTAR cohort. Rheumatology (Oxford). Published 3 June 2025. doi:10.
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