Improvement of endothelial function in parallel with the amelioration of dry cough and dyspnea due to interstitial pneumonia by intravenous cyclophosphamide pulse therapy in patients with systemic sclerosis: a preliminary report of two cases

Vol.22 No.4

Case Report

Authors

Takehiro Takahashi¹ , Yoshihide Asano¹ , Eisuke Amiya² , Masaru Hatano² , Zenshiro Tamaki¹ , Atsuko Ozeki² , Aya Watanabe² , Shuichi Kawarasaki² , Tomoko Nakao² , Takashi Taniguchi¹ , Yohei Ichimura¹ , Tetsuo Toyama¹, Masafumi Watanabe², Yasunobu Hirata², Ryozo Nagai², Shinichi Sato¹

Department of Dermatology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Received:

5 April 2011

Accepted:

26 September 2011

Published online:

21 October 2011

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Abstract

Intravenous cyclophosphamide pulse therapy (IVCY) exerts its efficacy against interstitial lung disease (ILD) associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc) by restoring vascular injuries as well as aberrant immune activation. We recently experienced two patients with SSc-ILD in whom the values of brachial flow-mediated dilation (FMD) reflected the efficacy of IVCY. We herein report the details of these cases and discuss the potential of FMD to predict and evaluate the effect of IVCY on SSc-ILD.

Key words

Endothelial function - Flow-mediated dilation - Interstitial lung disease - Intravenous cyclophosphamide pulse therapy - Systemic sclerosis