Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research
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Meta Analysis
The efficacy of treatment for systemic sclerosis interstitial lung disease: results from a meta-analysis.
This meta-analysis examined all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing pharmacotherapy for systemic sclerosis (SSc)-interstitial lung disease (ILD) with placebo or alternative drugs on pulmonary function tests (PFTs), quality of life, dyspnea, skin thickness, and adverse events. ⋯ This conservative yet significant effect of cyclophosphamide demonstrates the need for further investigation of its effectiveness on patient-important outcomes such as dyspnea and quality of life, which could not be evaluated by this meta-analysis. It may be that studies in SSc-ILD need outcomes that are more sensitive to change.