Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions
Pulmonary function tests can’t substitute for high-resolution CT in early systemic sclerosis ILD screening
Key clinical point: Clinicians shouldn’t rely on pulmonary function tests alone to screen for interstitial lung disease in patients with early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis, and should combine them with high-resolution CT.
Major finding: Pulmonary function tests had a positive predictive value of 64%-74% and an negative predictive value of 61%-70%.
Study details: A multicenter, prospective cohort study of 212 adults with early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis at 11 U.S. academic medical centers between April 2012 and January 2019.
Disclosures: Dr. Bernstein and several other coauthors in the study received grants from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to support their work. Dr. Furst disclosed receiving grant/research support from and/or consulting for AbbVie, Actelion, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Corbus, the National Institutes of Health, Novartis, Pfizer, and Roche/Genentech. Dr. Volkmann disclosed consulting for and/or receiving grant support from Boehringer Ingelheim, Corbus, and Forbius.
Bernstein EJ et al. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020 Jun 25. doi: 10.1002/art.41415.