Primary myocardial involvement is common in scleroderma, effected to pericardium, vascular, conducting defect and especially myocardium. Cardiac MRI is widely used for assessment of cardiac involvement in scleroderma, both structural and functional pathology. Cardiac MRI has a diagnostic accuracy of 85% for the detection of myocardial inflammation. Nowadays, the treatment of myocardial inflammation in scleroderma is uncertain. The investigator's study aims to define the cardiac outcome after moderate dose steroid therapy in the patients who have myocardial inflammation detection by cardiac MRI.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
20
Prednisolone 30 mg/d and taper 5-10 mg per 2 weeks until off at week 24.
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University
Khon Kaen, Thailand
Changing of degree of myocarditis evaluated by cardiac MRI after treatment compare to baseline
Myocarditis is defined as inflammatory disease of the myocardium according to the cardiac MRI Lake Louise criteria at least 2 of the following criteria: 1. Regional or global myocardial signal intensity increased in the T2-weighted images; 2. Increased global myocardial early enhancement ratio between the myocardium and skeletal muscle in the gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted images; and, 3. At least 1 focal lesion with nonischemic regional distribution in the inversion-recovery-prepared, gadolinium-enhanced, T1-weighted images (delayed enhancement). Response to treatment is defined as any reducing of degree of myocarditis without any progression of myocardial fibrosis or scarring when compared to the cardiac MRI baseline
Time frame: 24 weeks
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