Abstract
Background: Guidelines are needed to aid early recognition and treatment of interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis (SSc-ILD).
Objective: To develop expert consensus recommendations for the identification and management of SSc-ILD.
Methods: Evidence-based consensus recommendations were established using a modified Delphi process based on a systematic literature analysis. An expert panel of 27 European-based pulmonologists, rheumatologists and internists participated in three rounds of online surveys, a face-to-face discussion and a WebEx meeting, to establish recommendations and define a SSc-ILD management algorithm.
Results: The final evidence-based consensus included detailed recommendations for screening and risk stratification, diagnosis, assessment of severity, treatment options, monitoring, assessment of progression and treatment escalation. The consensus management algorithm is presented here in an abbreviated form for clinical use (figure).
Conclusion: These evidence-based expert consensus recommendations, developed using a modified Delphi process, provide important guidance for the identification and management of SSc-ILD in clinical practice.
Funding: Boehringer Ingelheim
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2019; 54: Suppl. 63, PA5195.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2019