Abstract
Objective To provide an overview of the role of lung ultrasound (LUS) in the assessment of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and to discuss the state of validation supporting its clinical relevance and application in daily clinical practice.
Methods Original articles, published between January 1997 and October 2017 were included. To identify all available studies, a detailed research pertaining to the topic of review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. A systematic research was performed in PubMed and EMBASE. The Quality assessment of retrieved articles was performed according the Oxford Center for Evidence-based Medicine. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews and QUADAS-2 tool.
Results From 300 papers identified, 12 were included for the analysis. LUS passed the filter of face, content validity and feasibility. However, there is insufficient evidence to support criterion validity, reliability and sensitivity to change.
Conclusion In conclusion, in spite of a great deal of work supporting the potential role of LUS for the assessment of ILD-SSc too much remains to be done to validate its use as an outcome measure in ILD-SSc.
