Thoracic lymphadenopathy as possible predictor of the onset of interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis patients without lung involvement at baseline visit: A retrospective analysis.

Thoracic lymphadenopathy was the strongest independent predictor of systemic sclerosis-interstitial lung disease, mostly in anticentromere antibodies and limited cutaneous subset of systemic sclerosis patients. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm our preliminary data and to understand whether thoracic lymphadenopathies may have a pathogenetic role in interstitial lung disease development.