Selexipag a potential treatment for digital vasculopathy in SSc

Use of selexipag shows promise in the treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc) digital vasculopathy, according to a study.

Nine patients with SSc (mean age 52.3 years, 66.6 percent female) received selexipag, of whom one discontinued treatment due to adverse events.

After 3 months of selexipag use, a significant decrease in daily episodes of Raynaud phenomenon (RP; p=0.01) and RP mean duration (p=0.04) was observed. The number of digital ulcers also decreased from 10 to four, but this did not reach statistical significance.

Notably, there was a significant improvement in mean perfusion of the fingers (p=0.02) seen with laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA).

“Our results are certainly preliminary, yet quite encouraging,” the researchers said. “New trials for the evaluation of selexipag efficacy in SSc digital vasculopathy are needed.”

In this study, selexipag was administered to SSc patients with severe digital vasculopathy refractory or with contraindication to other vasoactive therapies. The researchers then assessed RP- and digital ulcer-related outcomes and evaluated digital perfusion using LASCA at baseline and after 3 months.

“SSc is burdened by RP and digital ulcers, and sometimes standard vasoactive therapies are ineffective or contraindicated,” the researchers said.

“Selexipag is an oral selective IP prostacyclin receptor agonist approved for the treatment of SSc-related pulmonary arterial hypertension,” they added.