About
Systemic sclerosis (also called scleroderma) is a multi-system autoimmune disease with several organ- and life-threatening manifestations. Progress in developing effective treatments for scleroderma has, in part, been hampered by a lack of reliable, feasible, and valid outcome measures. The OMERACT Scleroderma Vascular Disease Working Group has been working to draft a core set of domains relevant to the study of two related manifestations of disease: Raynaud’s phenomenon and digital ulcers. This SIG, the first for this group, will outline the significant progress made to date and seek input from the OMERACT community about next steps in the process.
Current Stage in the OMERACT Process
Having finalized Core Domain Sets for Raynaud’s phenomenon and digital ulcers, the group is now selecting the most appropriate instruments to measure each core domain.
Latest Update
OMERACT 2025 Conference Highlights
Lightning Talk: In a rapid-fire session, our team shared an upcoming teaser of the Special Interest Group (SIG) session taking place during the conference. 
Watch the lightning talk here
Closing Plenary Talk: We were also featured in the Closing Plenary, where we highlighted the activities of the (SIG). Watch the presentation here
Meet the Team
Ariane Herrick, UK
Chair
Peter Merkel, USA
Chair
John Pauling, UK
Chair
Susanna Proudman, Australia
Chair
Michael Hughes, UK
Emerging Leader
Nancy, Maltez, Canada
Emerging Leader
Edith Brown, UK
Patient Research Partner
Virginia Hickey, Australia
Patient Research Partner
Recent Publications
- Hughes, Michael, et al. “Domain Reporting in Systemic Sclerosis-Related Digital Ulcers: An OMERACT Scoping Review.” Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, vol. 61, 152220, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2023.152220.
- Maltez, Nancy, et al. “Domain Reporting in Systemic Sclerosis-Related Raynaud’s Phenomenon: An OMERACT Scoping Review.” Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, vol. 61, 152208, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2023.152208.
- Maltez, Nancy, et al. “Developing a Core Set of Outcome Measure Domains to Study Raynaud’s Phenomenon and Digital Ulcers in Systemic Sclerosis: Report from OMERACT 2020.” Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, vol. 51, no. 3, 2021, pp. 640–43, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2021.04.005.