Online Course | 1 CME Credit
Systemic sclerosis is a complex autoimmune disease where immune dysregulation, vascular injury, and environmental factors intersect to drive diverse clinical outcomes.
In this CME/CPD-accredited course, you will gain a structured, clinically relevant overview of systemic sclerosis through four expert presentations from the International Friday Meeting. The course explores disease mechanisms from autoreactive B cells to key autoantibody profiles, including anti-topoisomerase I and anti-centromere antibodies, and their implications for diagnosis and organ involvement.
You will also examine how established and emerging biomarkers can improve risk stratification and guide personalized treatment decisions. In addition, the course highlights important environmental associations, including insights from World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers, and explores shared immunologic patterns with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).
Learning outcomes
By completing this course, you will be able to:
- Describe the role of autoreactive B cells and disease-specific autoantibodies in the pathogenesis and clinical expression of systemic sclerosis
- Differentiate key autoantibody profiles, including anti-topoisomerase I and anti-centromere antibodies, and explain their relevance for diagnosis, risk stratification, and organ involvement prediction
- Explain how established and emerging biomarkers support patient stratification, prognostication, and personalized therapeutic decision-making in systemic sclerosis
Course modules
Autoreactive B cells & Autoantibodies in Systemic Sclerosis
Explore immune mechanisms driving disease development, with a focus on B-cell activity and autoantibody formation.
Biomarkers in Systemic Sclerosis: Pathogenesis, Clinical Features, and Therapy Guidance
Understand how biomarkers support clinical decision-making, prognosis, and treatment selection.
Systemic Sclerosis in World Trade Center Rescue and Recovery Workers
Examine environmental exposure as a contributor to disease development and progression.
Systemic Sclerosis and PBC Share an Identical Antibody Population
Investigate overlapping immunologic features between systemic sclerosis and primary biliary cholangitis.