Performance of screening algorithms in systemic sclerosis-related pulmonary arterial hypertension: a systematic review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a major cause of mortality in systemic sclerosis (SSc). There is emerging evidence that screening may enable the earlier detection and treatment of SSc-PAH, and thereby improve survival. AIMS: We undertook a systematic review to evaluate the performance of current screening algorithms in SSc-PAH. METHODS: We searched the Medline and EMBASE databases to 31 March 2012. We selected studies if they applied a screening algorithm to consecutively enrolled SSc patients not known to have PAH; SSc-PAH had to be confirmed on right heart catheterisation (RHC). The performance of each screening algorithm and the methodological quality of each study wa..