Mori S et al. – Interstitial abnormalities were found to be frequently observed even in patients with early RA, although most of them had no respiratory symptoms. Bronchiolar abnormalities were associated with the duration of RA. Methods
Aim was to identify the predominant radiological abnormalities in the lungs of pts with early RA and in those with longstanding RA
High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was performed on 126 pts with early RA (n=65) and longstanding RA (n=61)
Pulmonary function tests were done for RA pts with parenchymal abnormalities
Results
The most frequent finding was bronchial dilatation, followed by ground-glass attenuation, parenchymal micronodules, subpleural micronodules, reticulation, bronchial wall thickening, nodules, honeycombing, and airspace consolidation
Small airway diseases, were more prominent in the pts with longstanding RA
No significant differences in the frequency of interstitial abnormalities between the 2 groups
10 pts with bronchiolitis pattern, 11 with nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) pattern, 2 with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern, and 2 with organizing pneumonia (OP) pattern were identified
Mean values of FEV1/FVC ratio and FEV25-75were lower in the pts with the bronchiolitis pattern
DLCO was decreased in the pts with the NSIP or UIP pattern
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