Mortality and survival in systemic sclerosis: a review of recent literature.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Systemic sclerosis is a debilitating rheumatic disease with high morbidity and mortality. This review attempts to provide the most recent update on mortality and survival and their determinants in systemic sclerosis (SSc).

RECENT FINDINGS: SSc remains an uncommon rheumatic disease with high mortality. There have been attempts to devise more comprehensive but simpler scoring systems to prognosticate survival in SSc, which will influence triaging of patients and guide the utilization of aggressive treatment strategies.

SUMMARY: Updated literature review on mortality and survival in SSc has confirmed its high-case fatality but a slowly improving survival profile over time. It identifies some gaps in knowledge, especially in regards to ethnic differences.