Abstract: 【Abstract】 Systemic sclerosis （SSc） is a rare, chronic connective tissue disease with internal organ fibrosis, and interstitial lung disease （ILD） is the leading cause of death in patients with SSc. The onset of SSc-associated ILD is usually latent, and delayed treatment may lead to rapid progression, and markedly decrease the quality of life and survival rate of patients. This review summarizes approaches to the early diagnosis of SSc-associated ILD and the time-to-treatment, and provides an overview of its treatment, including traditional immunosuppressive agents, newly emerging targeted therapies, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, lung transplantation, and so on.

Key words: Scleroderma, systemic, Lung diseases, interstitial, Diagnosis, Clinical protocols