2023 UPDATE OF EULAR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE TREATMENT OF SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS
Abstract: OP0234 (2023)
Authors: F. del Galdo et al.
Key content:
To update the 2017 EULAR recommendations for treatment of SSc, a task force included underrepresented areas of Europe and it consisted of 27 members, including a EULAR endorsed methodologist, 4 fellows, a librarian, one Allied Health Professional and two patient representatives. A Nominal Group Technique (NGT) exercise was implemented in two rounds for the definition of questions with an 80% agreement threshold.
The procedure resulted in 21 recommendations (instead of 16 in 2017) in 8 clinical domains related to SSc symptoms and organ involvements, including Raynaud’s phenomenon, digital ulcers, pulmonary arterial hypertension, scleroderma renal crisis, skin fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, gastrointestinal manifestations and arthritis. Most of the new recommendations were in the field of skin fibrosis and interstitial lung disease and included recommendations for the use of mycophenolate mofetil, nintedanib, rituximab and tocilizumab for the treatment of disease manifestations. None of these therapies were present in the 2017 recommendations.
Relevance:
The 2023 updates of EULAR recommendations will assist the clinicians in their therapeutic decisions and in obtaining drug approval by Swiss insurance companies.
