Efficacy of Botulinum Toxin In Scleroderma-Associated Raynaud's Syndrome

Phase 3

Completed

Conditions: Raynaud's Syndrome
Scleroderma

Interventions: Drug: Onabotulinumtoxin A
Drug: sterile saline solution

Registration Number: NCT02165111

Lead Sponsor: Johns Hopkins University

Brief Summary: This is a randomized, double-blinded, clinical trial assessing the therapeutic efficacy of Botulinum toxin A (Onabotulinumtoxin A) in treating scleroderma-associated Raynaud's syndrome. Each patient will undergo injection with a treatment dose of Botulinum toxin A in one randomly-selected hand, and the contralateral hand will be injected with sterile saline (placebo) to serve as a control.

Study participants at the first study visit will complete study questionnaires, their hands will be assessed clinically for digital ulceration, and their hands will undergo non-invasive laser Doppler imaging to assess blood flow. After this initial assessment, the patients will undergo peri-arterial injection of Botulinum toxin A in one hand, and of sterile saline solution (placebo) in the other, in a randomized, blinded manner.

Patient will report the severity of their Raynaud's symptoms weekly over the four month study period. At one month post-injection, the patient will complete study questionnaires, their hands will be assessed clinically for digital ulceration, and their hands will undergo non-invasive laser Doppler imaging. At four months post-injection, the patient will again complete study questionnaires, their hands will be assessed clinically for digital ulceration, and their hands will undergo non-invasive laser Doppler imaging. In addition, patient will be given the option of one week post-injection visit, at which point the same assessment will be performed.

At the conclusion of the study, unblinding will occur.

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 40

Inclusion Criteria

Aged 18 years and older
Diagnosed with scleroderma.
Symptoms of Raynaud's syndrome affecting both hands (not necessarily to equal extents)
Ability to return/be available for follow-up evaluations
Able and willing to give informed consent
Able to speak and read in the English language.

Exclusion Criteria

A history of Myasthenia gravis.
Reported allergy or hypersensitivity to any Botulinum toxin preparation.
Active infection in either hand.
Patients who have ever received Botulinum toxin vaccine.
Pregnant or lactating women.
Females unable or unwilling to maintain abstinence or use contraception for 28 days following the injections.
Patients who have previously undergone any vascular surgery on the upper extremity, including surgical sympathectomies.
Current use of any aminoglycoside antibiotic

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Onabotulinumtoxin A	Onabotulinumtoxin A	One hand of each patient will be randomly selected for injection of Botulinum Toxin A (Onabotulinumtoxin A, 20 units/mL). Injections are performed using a 30 gauge insulin syringe through the dorsal surface in seven locations: adjacent to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th common digital arteries through the web spaces (10 units each=0.5mL each), and the radial side of the index finger metacarpal head, the ulnar side of the small finger metacarpal head, and each side of the thumb metacarpal head (5 units each= 0.25mL each). Total treatment dose of Botulinum Toxin A will not exceed 50 units per hand.
Placebo	sterile saline solution	One hand of each patient will be randomly selected for injection of sterile saline solution (placebo). Injections are performed using a 30 gauge insulin syringe through the dorsal surface in seven locations: adjacent to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th common digital arteries through the web spaces (0.5 mL each), and the radial side of the index finger metacarpal head, the ulnar side of the small finger metacarpal head, and each side of the thumb metacarpal head (0.25 mL each).

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Digital Blood Flow From Pre- to Post-injection.	Measured pre-injection and at one month post-injection.	The primary outcome measure is change in blood flow to the fingers, from a pre-injection baseline to post-injection follow-up visit as measured by non-invasive laser Doppler imaging.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Assessment of Raynaud's Symptom Severity Using the McCabe Cold Sensitivity Score.	Measured at one month post-injection.	A secondary outcome of this study is the patient-reported sensitivity to coldness as measured by the McCabe Cold Sensitivity score. Patients' answers on this validated instrument are scored on a scale from 0 (no sensitivity) to 400 (extreme sensitivity), where a higher number represents a worse outcome.
Rate of Change in Raynaud's Phenomenon Symptoms Measured With the Raynaud's Condition Score.	Weekly rate of change over the four-month study period.	Raynaud's Condition Score is a patient-reported, validated outcomes scale that measures the severity of Raynaud's phenomenon on a scale of 0 ("No difficulty") to 10 ("Extreme difficulty"), where higher values represent a worse outcome. Data from each weekly report were combined using a statistical model (generalized linear population-average model) to calculate a weekly rate of change for each participant's hand, where a negative value represents a improvement over time and a positive value represents worsening over time.
Number of Ulcers as Measure of Digital Ulcer Healing	Measured at one month post-injection.	A secondary outcome of this study is the number of digital ulcers as determined by clinical examination. Mean number of ulcers was calculated as total number of ulcers / total number of hands in each group.
Assessment of Raynaud's Symptoms Severity Using the Quick-DASH Score.	Measured at one month post-injection.	A secondary outcome of this study is severity of Raynaud's symptoms as measured by the self-reported Quick-DASH score. The Quick-DASH scores measures the degree of hand and upper extremity function on a scale of 0 (not limited) to 100 (severely limited) where a higher value represents a worse outcome.
Assessment of Raynaud's Symptom Severity Using the VAS for Pain.	Measured at one month post-injection.	A secondary outcome of this study is pain as measured by the validated visual-analog scale (VAS) for pain. The VAS pain instrument measures pain on a scale from 0 cm (no pain) to 10 cm (extreme pain)