MECHANISMS OF HEART-DISEASE IN SYSTEMIC S CLERODERMA (REPORT ON 3 CASES)

We studied myocardial manifestations of systemic sclerosis in three pa tients. Two patients were symptomatic. A transthoracic echocardiograph y, a coronary angiography, a cardiac catheterization, thallium scans w ith dipyridamol complete by thoracic cold exposure and endomyocardial biopsy with immunohistological study were performed. None of them have coronary stenosis. In the three cases abnormalities of myocardial per fusion were detected, two of them have fibrosis. The immuno-histologic al study always showed an anusual expression of HLA DR on cardiac fibr oblasts.