The Prevalence and Incidence of Interstitial Lung Disease among Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Protocol for a Systematic Review

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease, which can affect any organ systems and cause increased morbidity and mortality. Interstitial lung diseases (ILD) can manifest with heterogeneous radiological and pathological patterns in different categories of connective tissue diseases (CTD-ILD) including SLE. ILD is associated with reduced quality of life due to increased morbidity and mortality. Diagnosing SLE-ILD is challenging, and the prevalence and incidence of SLE-ILD vary depending on the applied study methodology and study population. Clarifying an estimate of the prevalence and incidence of SLE-ILD will help clinicians’ awareness of this rare disease presentation prompting an overall improved management including treatment plans.