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The 2024 British Society for Rheumatology guideline for management of systemic sclerosis

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Medicine, University College London, London, UK.
  • 2Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
  • 3Centre for Rheumatology, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
  • 4Scleroderma and Raynaud’s UK (SRUK), London, UK.
  • 5Department of Rheumatology, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
  • 6Department of Rheumatology, Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
  • 7Department of Rheumatology, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK.
  • 8Department of Rheumatology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
  • 9Department of Rheumatology, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Dudley, UK.
  • 10Department of Rheumatology, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, Taunton, UK.
  • 11Department of Rheumatology, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, UK.
  • 12Department of Rheumatology, Alder Hey Childrens Hospital, Liverpool, UK.
  • 13Lived Experience, London, UK.
  • 14Department of Rheumatology, North Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, UK.
  • 15Department of Dermatology, Northern Care Alliance, Salford Royal, UK.
  • 16Interstitial Lung Disease Unit, Royal Brompton NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
  • 17Department of Rheumatology, University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Leicester, UK.
  • 18Department of Rheumatology, Northern Care Alliance, Salford Royal, UK.
  • 19Department of Rheumatology, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands.
  • 20Primary Care Sciences, Keele University, Keele, UK.

Published on:

September 10, 2024

Abstract

This guideline was developed according to the British Society for Rheumatology Guidelines Protocol by a Guideline Development Group comprising healthcare professionals with expertise in SSc and people with lived experience, as well as patient organization representatives. It is an update of the previous 2015 SSc guideline. The recommendations were developed and agreed by the group and are underpinned by published evidence, assessed by systematic literature review and reinforced by collective expert opinion of the group. It considers all aspects of SSc including general management, treatment of organ-based complications, including cardiopulmonary, renal and gastrointestinal tract manifestations, as well as broader impact of disease. Whilst it is focused on adults with SSc we expect that the guideline will be relevant to people of all ages and expert input and review by paediatric rheumatologists and other relevant specialists considered where the guideline was, or may not be, applicable to young people with SSc and juvenile-onset disease. In addition to providing guidance on disease assessment and management the full guideline also considers service organization within the National Health Service and future approaches to audit of the guideline. The lay summary that accompanies this abstract can be found in Supplemental information 1.

Keywords:

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