Pulmonary abnormalities on high-resolution computed tomography in patients with long standing rheumatoid arthritis

Background. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory disease, associated with a number of extra-articular organ manifestations. Pulmonary involvement is a frequent and severe extraarticular manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis. RA can affect lung parenchyma, airways and pleura. Objectives. To identify RA-related lung disease on chest computed tomography (CT). Material and methods. We performed high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) on a total of 92 patients with longstanding RA. Results. The subjects were predominantely female (79.3%), the age at entry was 63.77 ±11.56 years, and 42.9% had a history of smoking. Disease duration was 15.00±11.55 years. Pulmonary CT abnormalities were found in 71 of the 92 patients (77.2%). The most common HRCT anomalies were: linear attenuation (reticulation) (52.11%), bronchiectasis andbronchial wall thickening (45%), nodular attenuation (39.43%) and pleural involvement (pleural effusion or thickening) (39.43%). Conclusions. We conclude that RA-related lung disease was commonly detected on chest CT imaging in longstanding RA patients.