Novel Screening Strategies for Scleroderma PAH

Patients with scleroderma can develop heart failure due to high blood pressure in the lungs (a condition called pulmonary arterial hypertension). It is important to find pulmonary arterial hypertension early, so that it can be treated before heart failure develops. However, the tests that we now use to find the earliest form of this disease in scleroderma patients are not good enough. This study will examine whether tests performed during exercise can improve our ability to find early pulmonary arterial hypertension. The study will also try to identify genes that are responsible for the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension.