Interstitial lung disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis attending a tertiary care hospital in Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is an important cause of mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study was done to determine the prevalence of ILD in patients with RA and the association between ILD and duration and severity of disease activity of RA. Methods: Ninety-six patients with RA, diagnosed as per American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) classification criteria, were evaluated for severity of clinical disease activity by the disease activity score with 28- joint counts (DAS28), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and visual analogue scale (VAS). They were subjected to spirometry and high-resolution CT (HRCT) chest for the assessment of ILD. Results: ILD was present in 16 (16.6%) patients. Majority of patients with ILD had more than 10 years of illness (7 [43.7%] patients) and high severity of disease activity (12 [75%] patients). Usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) was the predominant pattern (13 patients, 81.2%) while only 3 (18.7%) patients belonged to nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) subtype of ILD. Spirometry showed restrictive pattern in 11 (68.7%) patients with ILD. ILD did not show a significant association with duration of disease (p = 0.19) and severity of disease activity of RA (p = 0.14).Conclusions: ILD was common in patients with RA. ILD was not dependent on duration and severity of disease activity of RA.