Scleroderma lung disease

Abstract

When a patient with SSc disease presents with signs or symptoms referring to the chest, a number of potential disorders must be considered (table 1) for: direct pulmonary involvement (ILD with or without PH or pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), airways disease and pleural involvement); indirect pulmonary complications (aspiration, infection, drug toxicity, malignancy, respiratory muscle weakness, restrictive lung disease from chest wall involvement and lung disease secondary to cardiac involvement); combinations of direct and indirect pulmonary manifestations; and other lung diseases not related to SSc (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/emphysema, asthma and lung nodules).