title: Update on scleroderma-associated interstitial lung disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Systemic sclerosis (SSc), or scleroderma, is a heterogeneous and complex autoimmune disease characterized by varying degrees of skin and organ fibrosis and obliterative vasculopathy. The disease results in significant morbidity and mortality, and to date, available treatments are limited. Lung involvement is the leading cause of death of patients with SSc. Over the past year, significant advances have been made in our understanding of SSc-associated lung disease, and this review attempts to encapsulate these most recent findings and place them in context.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We divide our discussion of the most recent literature into the following: first, clinical aspects of SSc lung management, including classification, imaging, biomarkers, and treatment; second, promising new animal models that may improve our ability to accurately study this disease; and third, studies that advance or change our understanding of SSc lung disease pathogenesis, thereby raising the potential for new targets for therapeutic intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recent advances have resulted in a better understanding of SSc-associated lung disease, the development of new in-vivo models for exploring disease pathogenesis, and the identification of potential novel targets for the development of therapies.
authors.affiliation: aDivision of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh bDivision of Rheumatology & Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Ming-Hui
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Feghali-Bostwick
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Silver
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D017563:Lung Diseases, Interstitial / Q000209:etiology*; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000150:complications*