Predictors of airway and parenchymal lung abnormalities in Egyptian patients with rheumatoid arthritis / Abdelmoneim Medhat Elemary ; Supervised Seham Ali Metawie , Hala Ahmed Raafat , Wael Mohamed Elshawaf

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation

Introduction: Pulmonary involvement is frequent and among the most severe extra-articular manifestations of Rheumatoid arthritis ranking as the second cause of mortality in this patient population. Rheumatoid arthritis can affect the lung parenchyma, airways and pleura. Pulmonary complications are directly responsible for 10-20% of all mortality in Rheumatoid arthritis patients. Spirometry is a cheap and easy way to screen and monitor for pulmonary function abnormalities in well characterized patient populations such as those with Rheumatoid arthritis. Abnormalities detected by pulmonary function tests may precede symptoms by years. HRCT is more sensitive than spirometry in detecting pulmonary abnormalities in Rheumatoid arthritis patients. The objectives of the present study are to investigate the prevalence and types of pulmonary involvement using HRCT and Spirometry and evaluate respiratory symptoms and rheumatoid disease parameters as predictors of RA-lung disease in a group of Egyptian Rheumatoid arthritis patients. Patients and methods: One hundred Rheumatoid arthritis patients who have met the ACR criteria (2010) were recruited with age {u2265}16, 77females (77%) and 23 males (23%) with mean age 55.7. Detailed medical and drug histories were obtained. Routine lab, Pulmonary function tests (spirometry), plain X-ray of the chest, and HRCT were performed to all subjects involved. Rheumatoid disease activity was established by Disease Activity Score (DAS28), Disease severity assessed by Larsen score

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