Screening High‐Resolution Computed Tomography of the Chest to Detect Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis: A Global Survey of Rheumatologists

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) affects approximately 40-60% of adults with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and is the leading cause of death and hospitalization in this population (1-4). Despite the life-threatening nature of ILD and the availability of existing therapies (5, 6), there are no clinical practice guidelines that recommend screening for ILD in SSc. Although pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are widely used by rheumatologists as a screening test for SSc-ILD, studies have shown that they are neither sensitive nor specific for the detection of ILD in this population (3). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.