Table 1.

Overarching principles of the consensus guidance for the screening, diagnosis and follow-up of systemic sclerosis primary heart involvement.

	Overarching principles	n voting	Mean agreement (OK if ⩾7)	% voters <70% (OK if ⩽30)
OP1	These recommendations refer to the definition of systemic sclerosis–related primary heart involvement (SSc-pHI) 9	12	8.42	17
OP2	SSc-pHI should be considered particularly in the early stages of the disease, but it may also be present and develop throughout the disease course of a patient with SSc	13	9.38	8
OP3	The patient should be counseled about the symptoms and consequences of SSc-pHI to raise their awareness and to ensure the importance of reporting symptoms to the physician	14	9.71	7
OP4	Where suspicion for SSc-pHI exists, acute and chronic coronary syndromes should be considered and managed in line with current guidelines	14	9.21	0
OP5	The differential diagnosis and management of SSc-pHI should be undertaken by a multi-disciplinary team that comprises cardiologist(s) (with necessary subspecialist expertise as indicated) and rheumatologists with SSc expertise	15	9.00	7
OP6	Screening refers to the assessment of asymptomatic patients with no known SSc-pHI, who can be further stratified into those who are considered “at higher risk” and those who should be considered “at lower risk” of developing heart involvement	14	8.43	14
OP7	Diagnosis refers to the assessment of patients presenting with symptoms and/or signs and/or investigations compatible with possible SSc-pHI	15	8.47	13