Prolonged remission in Raynaud's phenomenon after prostacyclin infusion

We infused prostacyclin (PGI2) (7.5 ng/kg/min) during 5 h, three times at weekly intervals in 8 patients with Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). In 4 patients, improvement was long-term, more than 90 days after the last infusion (good responders); in 3 patients, improvement was mild, less than 15 days, and in one patient no improvement was observed (poor responders). Clinical response was always accompanied by improvement, although less prolonged, of capillary appearance and/or function, as judged by microscopy and/or hemodynamic tests (pulse volume index; radial artery blood flow). Lastly, increased catabolism of PGI2 seemed to be excluded in poor responders, since no statistical difference in PGI2 metabolism could be observed between the two groups.