• Hideaki Yamakawa, Shintaro Sato, Emiri Tsumiyama, Tomotaka Nishizawa, Rie Kawabe, Tomohiro Oba, Teppei Kamikawa, Masanobu Horikoshi, Keiichi Akasaka, Masako Amano, Kazuyoshi Kuwano, and Hidekazu Matsushima.
• Department of Respiratory Medicine, Saitama Red Cross Hospital, Saitama, Japan.
• J Thorac Dis. 2019 Dec 1; 11 (12): 5247-5257.

BackgroundInterstitial lung disease (ILD) is associated with high morbidity and mortality in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern was reported as a poor prognostic factor, in clinical practice, we often cannot classify high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) patterns specifically as UIP or nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP). This study of RA-ILD aimed to elucidate prognosis by using our modified HRCT pattern classification according to the latest guideline on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).MethodsWe analysed the medical records of 96 consecutive patients diagnosed as having RA-ILD. The modified HRCT classifications were defined as definite UIP, probable UIP, indeterminate for UIP (i.e., early UIP or NSIP/UIP), NSIP, organizing pneumonia (OP), NSIP+OP, and unclassifiable. Predictors of prognosis were determined using Cox regression models.ResultsOur RA-ILD cohort included definite UIP (21%), probable UIP (20%), indeterminate for UIP (30%) including NSIP/UIP (27%), alternative diagnosis (29%) including NSIP (14%), and other patterns. Interrater agreement for HRCT pattern was good (κ=0.75). Multivariate analysis showed that older age, history of acute exacerbation, and radiological honeycombing were negative prognostic factors of mortality.ConclusionsNSIP/UIP pattern of indeterminate for UIP was the major pattern in RA-ILD. Although classifications of HRCT patterns were not related to survival, the presence of radiological honeycombing could be a useful predictor of poor prognosis, and acute exacerbation of ILD can seriously impact patient survival regardless of the presence of a UIP or indeterminate for UIP pattern. Our modified HRCT classification based on the latest IPF guideline might be useful to assess appropriate strategies of diagnosis in future RA-ILD studies, and radiological honeycombing could better predict poor prognosis rather than HRCT pattern.2019 Journal of Thoracic Disease. All rights reserved.

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