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Corresponding Author

Mostafa Mohamed Abdel Samea Hashem

Abstract

Background: Chest complications are the main cause of mortality and morbidity in rheumatological illnesses.

Aim: To identify early pulmonary complications in a cohort of Egyptian cases with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Patients and methods: This was a case-control investigation involving sixty cases recruited from the outpatient clinics and inpatient departments of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation at Al Hussein and Bab El-Sharia University Hospitals, related to Al-Azhar University. Additionally, forty healthy subjects matched for age and sex have been involved as a control group.

Results: In a study of rheumatoid patients, abnormal HRCT was reported in 12 cases (80%), with three patients being symptomatic. The remaining nine asymptomatic patients had various findings, including lung nodules, basal ground glass appearance, Usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) <20% lung affection, fibrotic band, and bronchiectasis. In SLE patients, abnormal HRCT was reported in 10 cases (66.7%), with four patients being symptomatic. The remaining six asymptomatic patients had pleural thickening, shrinking lung syndrome, consolidation, and ILD of the UIP subtype with <20% lung affection. In ankylosing spondylitis patients, abnormal HRCT was reported in 7 cases (46.7%), with one patient symptomatic with apical fibro-bullous lung disease, while six patients were chest Asymptomatic had atelectasis, pleural thickening, fibrotic band, apical reticulation, and lung nodules.

Conclusion: Early HRCT scans of the chest are crucial for diagnosing lung complications in rheumatic diseases as most of these complications may be Asymptomatic in their early phase, and their early detection may lead to early drug intervention, which might improve the patient's prognosis by decreasing both disease morbidity and mortality.

Article Type

Original Article

Keywords

Identification; Pulmonary Complications; Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases

Subject Area

Rheumatology and Medical Rehabilitation

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