Patients' characteristics
| Age | 63 (13) |
| Sex (female)§ | 119 (84.4) |
| Diffuse disease subset§ | 44 (31.2) |
| Disease duration (year) | 13.3 (7.2) |
| Interstitial lung disease§ | 39 (27.7) |
| Pulmonary arterial hypertension§ | 12 (8.5) |
| Active disease accordingly to Valentini§ | 27 (19.1) |
| FVC predicted (%) | 103 (23) |
| DLCO/VA predicted (%) | 75 (21) |
| mRSS* | 8 (7) |
| Medsger severity score* | 5 (3) |
| Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (mm/h) | 26 (16) |
| C-reactive protein (mg/l)* | 3 (0) |
| Endothelin receptor antagonists§ | 16 (11.3) |
| Prostanoids (any)§ | 130 (92.2) |
| Steroids§ | 23 (16.3) |
| Immunosuppressive treatment§ | 35 (24.8) |
*Expressed as media (IQR); §Expressed as absolute valute (%).