An observational study of pulmonary screening in rheumatoid arthritis patients at a tertiary hospital

 

 

Abstract              Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory systemic disease, given the impact of lung disease on morbidity and mortality in RA, screening of asymptomatic RA patients for pulmonary involvement has been recommended. Present study was an observational study of pulmonary screening in rheumatoid arthritis patients at a tertiary hospital. Material and Methods: Present study was cross sectional, observational study, conducted in patients of age >21 years, of either sex having who met the ACR EULAR (2010) criteria for Rheumatoid arthritis underwent pulmonary screening by physiological (pulmonary function test) and radiological methods (chest X-ray, HRCT chest). Results: In present study, 64 patients of rheumatoid arthritis were evaluated. Mean age was 53.62 ± 11.03 years. Male patients (26.6 %) were less than female patients (73.4 %). Most of patients ha d duration of RA disease >10 years (60.9 %), normal BMI (45.3 %) and were non-smoker (59.4 %). 14.1 % were current smoker. Common symptoms noted were cough (43.8 %), breathlessness (17.2 %), sputum (14.1 %) and wheezing (7.8 %). X-Ray chest findings was normal in majority of patients (81.3 %) followed by b/l lower zone haziness (14.1 %) and prominent pulmonary vasculature (4.7 %). On HRCT, majority of patients had normal findings (73.4 %) followed by ground glass pat (both lower lobes) (17.2 %), sub pelural reticulations (10.9 %), pleural thickening (3.1 %) and pulmonary vascular prominence (3.1 %). Pulmonary function test findings were normal in majority of patients (65.6 %) followed by rrestrictive changes (17.2 %), oobstructive changes (10.9 %) and 6.3 % were non-cooperative. Conclusion: Pulmonary screening in rheumatoid arthritis patients helps in early diagnosis, treatment and monitoring to reduce morbidity and mortality.

Keywords: Pulmonary screening, rheumatoid arthritis, chest X-ray, HRCT chest