Korean J Intern Med.  2019 Mar;34(2):434-441. 10.3904/kjim.2016.349.

Clinical characteristics associated with occurrence and poor prognosis of interstitial lung disease in rheumatoid arthritis

• Yang JA
• Lee JS
• Park JK
• Lee EB
• Song YW
• Lee EY

• KMID: 2441024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3904/kjim.2016.349

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
To analyze clinical characteristics of interstitial lung disease (ILD) associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), especially in patients with poor prognosis.
METHODS
Seventy-seven RA patients with ILD and 231 age, sex, and disease duration-matched RA patients without ILD were enrolled in this retrospective study. Epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory information were obtained through a medical chart review. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the risk of mortality in RA patients with ILD.
RESULTS
Compared to the RA without ILD group, the RA with ILD group had significantly higher titers of rheumatoid factor and the anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (p = 0.001 for both), higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) at the time of RA diagnosis (p = 0.014), and a higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p = 0.022) and CRP levels (p < 0.001) throughout the 10-year follow-up period. These patients also received a higher mean daily dose of corticosteroids (p < 0.001). In the subgroup analysis of RA patients with ILD, 28 patients (36.4%) died during follow-up. Multivariate analysis revealed that older age at the time of ILD diagnosis was significantly associated with mortality. Usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) subtype on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was also suggested as a poor prognostic factor.
CONCLUSIONS
The survival of RA patients with ILD is adversely affected by age at the time of ILD diagnosis. RA-ILD patients diagnosed after age 65 or with a UIP subtype on HRCT may have a poor prognosis.

Keyword

Arthritis, rheumatoid; Lung diseases, interstitial; Rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease

MeSH Terms

Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Arthritis, Rheumatoid*
Blood Sedimentation
C-Reactive Protein
Diagnosis
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Logistic Models
Lung Diseases, Interstitial*
Mortality
Multivariate Analysis
Prognosis*
Retrospective Studies
Rheumatoid Factor
Adrenal Cortex Hormones
C-Reactive Protein
Rheumatoid Factor