Abstract
Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic connective tissue disease characterized by multi-organ involvement. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is one of the major organ complications that increases morbidity and mortality in SSc patients. This study aimed to assess the association between certain clinical and paraclinical factors and forced vital capacity (%FVC) in SSc patients with ILD.
Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and paraclinical features of systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) and the association between these factors and forced vital capacity (%FVC).
Results: The study included a total of 106 SSc-ILD patients, diagnosed based on the 2013 ACR/EULAR criteria and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings. The study population was predominantly female (91.5%), with a mean age of 51.3 ± 10.3 years and a median disease duration of 5 years. Patients in the study had a moderate decline in pulmonary function, with a mean predicted %FVC of 60.84%. Regarding HRCT patterns, non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) was the most frequent pattern (53.8%), followed by usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) at 41.5%. Univariate analysis showed that %FVC was inversely associated with LogKL-6 levels, systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAPs), and platelet count (PLT). The predicted %FVC of the UIP pattern was also statistically significantly lower than that of the NSIP pattern. After multivariate linear regression analysis, only two factors remained significantly associated with predicted %FVC: LogKL-6 (p < 0.001) and PAPs (p = 0.012). The study highlights the importance of screening for ILD, as clinical symptoms (such as dry cough, dyspnea) were present in only about half of the patients.
Conclusion: Interstitial lung disease is a significant organ complication in SSc. Screening for ILD should be performed in all SSc patients, even in the absence of clinical symptoms. KL-6 is an important clinical factor associated with ILD in SSc patients.
| Published | 2026-09-28 | |
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| Issue | Vol. 16 No. 5 (2026) | |
| Section | Original Articles | |
| DOI | 10.34071/jmp.2026.5.763 | |
| Keywords | Xơ cứng bì toàn thể, bệnh phổi kẽ, dung tích sống gắng sức |
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