Systemic sclerosis & Raynaud's
Imaging findings of scleroderma-associated myopathy: A systematic literature review
Authors' conclusion
Imaging detects inflammatory, atrophic, and vasculopathic changes in the skeletal musculature of SSc patients.
Study context
- Population
- Studies of ≥10 systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients reporting skeletal muscle imaging results (MEDLINE(Ovid), Pubmed, EMBASE)17 articles
- Outcome
- Skeletal muscle imaging findings in SSc
Methodological detailsdescriptive synthesis, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) quality assessment tool for risk of bias, 2426 studies identified
- Descriptive synthesis
- NHLBI quality assessment tool for risk of bias
- 2426 studies identified
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) the most commonly applied imaging technique (studies)
- 9
- Abnormalities on MRI (muscle oedema, atrophy, fatty infiltration), % of patients
- 38-100 %
- Changes in skeletal muscles (studies)
- 14
- Changes in axial muscles (studies)
- 1
- Changes in masseter muscle (studies)
- 1
- Changes in accessory respiratory muscles (studies)
- 2
Further findings
Skeletal muscle perfusion
- Assessed by blood oxygenation level-dependent MRI, dynamic contrast-enhanced US and scintigraphy
Original publication
Imaging findings of scleroderma-associated myopathy: A systematic literature review. Semin Arthritis Rheum. Published 23 February 2025. doi:10.
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