Background: The beneficial effect of autologus hematopoietic stem cells transplantation on skin scores raised as the question if Cyclophosphamide alone represents an alternative for the treatment of skin changes in the patients with Systemic Sclerosis.
Objectives: To determine if Cyclophosphamide is also beneficial on the skin changes in patients with Systemic Sclerosis treated for active alveolitis.
Methods: We evaluated 28 patients. We measured The modified Rodnan skin score (mRodnanss) at the beginning of the treatment and after 6 months of treatment. Skin thickening was assessed by clinical palpation of 17 body areas on 0 to 3 scale ( normal, mild, moderate, severe ). The mRodnanss was calculated by summation of the scores from all 17 areas. The measures were made by 2 doctors after the evaluation of the inter and intraobserver variability.
Results: The mRodnanss varied from 46 to 16 at the beginning of the study (only 3 patients had a score lower than 20), and from 31 to 16 at the end. So, after 6 months of treatment, the mRodnanss decreased from a mean value of 31.0000 to 20.1071 at the end (mean difference -10,8929) [95%CI 8,2643 to 13,5214], p<0,05.

Conclusion: Although the lot was small – only 28 patients- because they were treated with Cyclophosphamide according to their lung involvement, the Cyclophosphamide treatment seemed to ameliorate the skin thickening in Systemic Sclerosis. The effect is grater in those patients with higher mRodnanss.