Fifteen patients with severe scleroderma bowel disease began receiving home central venous hyperalimentation (HCVH) between 1979 and 1987. The major reasons for instituting HCVH were intestinal pseudo-obstruction, malabsorption, and malnutrition. Eleven patients had an improved quality of life. Serious complications encountered over these 15,700 catheter-use days were 2 episodes of septicemia and 2 episodes of superior vena cava obstruction. Seven patients died, but none directly from their gastrointestinal disease or from the HCVH.