Systolic Dysfunction in Systemic Sclerosis: Prevalence and Prognostic Implications.

Objective: Primary cardiac involvement is presumed to account for a substantial part of disease-related mortality in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Still, there are knowledge gaps on the evolution and total burden of systolic dysfunction in SSc. Here we evaluated prospective left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) systolic function in an unselected SSc cohort and assessed the burden of systolic dysfunction on mortality.

Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction Predicts Mortality in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis.

Background: Primary cardiac affection is common and is a major cause of death in systemic sclerosis (SSc), but there are knowledge gaps regarding the effect of cardiac dysfunction on mortality.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate diastolic function in a large, unselected SSc cohort and assess the effect of diastolic dysfunction (DD) on mortality.

Methods: SSc patients followed prospectively at the Oslo University Hospital from 2003 to 2016 with available echocardiographies and matched control subjects were included.