Evaluation of HRCT Patterns in Systemic Sclerosis-associated Interstitial Lung Disease

Unsupervised Clustering Evaluation of HRCT Patterns in Systemic Sclerosis-associated Interstitial Lung Disease

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a heterogeneous systemic autoimmune disease with distinct prognosis according to patients. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) concerns almost 50 % of SSc patients and represents the main cause of mortality. SSc-ILD is variable: from limited forms (with asymptomatic patients) to extensive lesions. Disease course in SSc-ILD is also highly variable: patients can experience stable disease, slow or fast progression. Investigators performed unsupervised clustering analysis to classify SSc-ILD according to elementary radiological lesions on HRCT scan.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with systemic sclerosis according to 2013 ACR/EULAR criteria
• Patients with interstitial lung disease on HRCT chest

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with an alternative diagnosis of SSc-associated ILD (silicosis, sarcoidosis, lung cancer or other significant lung abnormalities)