{"title":"Recent advances in the heart and soul of primary cardiac involvement and cardiovascular disease in systemic sclerosis","authors":"Laura Ross , Cosimo Bruni","doi":"10.1016/j.berh.2026.102124","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Systemic sclerosis (SSc) has direct effects on the heart. Primary SSc-associated heart involvement (pSHI) is a spectrum of disease, with myriad presentations that range from acute heart failure and myocarditis, breathlessness due to diastolic dysfunction to asymptomatic ventricular ectopy. There have been recent significant advances towards the standardized identification of pSHI with the development of both a consensus definition and classification criteria for pSHI. Such instruments are required to improve the quality of research in this area by enabling the recruitment of homogenous patient populations and permitting comparison of results between studies. Prospective studies are required to test the efficacy of screening strategies to identify pSHI at an early stage, as well as the effectiveness of immunosuppressive, anti-fibrotic and heart failure management strategies to reverse the disease related effects of SSc on the heart.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50983,"journal":{"name":"Best Practice & Research in Clinical Rheumatology","volume":"40 2","pages":"Article 102124"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0000,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Best Practice & Research in Clinical Rheumatology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1521694226000094","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/3/4 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"RHEUMATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) has direct effects on the heart. Primary SSc-associated heart involvement (pSHI) is a spectrum of disease, with myriad presentations that range from acute heart failure and myocarditis, breathlessness due to diastolic dysfunction to asymptomatic ventricular ectopy. There have been recent significant advances towards the standardized identification of pSHI with the development of both a consensus definition and classification criteria for pSHI. Such instruments are required to improve the quality of research in this area by enabling the recruitment of homogenous patient populations and permitting comparison of results between studies. Prospective studies are required to test the efficacy of screening strategies to identify pSHI at an early stage, as well as the effectiveness of immunosuppressive, anti-fibrotic and heart failure management strategies to reverse the disease related effects of SSc on the heart.
期刊介绍:
Evidence-based updates of best clinical practice across the spectrum of musculoskeletal conditions.
Best Practice & Research: Clinical Rheumatology keeps the clinician or trainee informed of the latest developments and current recommended practice in the rapidly advancing fields of musculoskeletal conditions and science.
The series provides a continuous update of current clinical practice. It is a topical serial publication that covers the spectrum of musculoskeletal conditions in a 4-year cycle. Each topic-based issue contains around 200 pages of practical, evidence-based review articles, which integrate the results from the latest original research with current clinical practice and thinking to provide a continuous update.
Each issue follows a problem-orientated approach that focuses on the key questions to be addressed, clearly defining what is known and not known. The review articles seek to address the clinical issues of diagnosis, treatment and patient management. Management is described in practical terms so that it can be applied to the individual patient. The serial is aimed at the physician in both practice and training.