• F Salaffi, P Manganelli, M Carotti, and S Baldelli.
• Clinica Reumatologica, Università di Ancona, Italy.
• Clin. Rheumatol. 2000 Jan 1;19(1):35-41.

AbstractTo explore common patterns of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in symptomless patients with connective tissue disease (CTD), we applied factorial analysis to determine the relationship among the factors. A selected cohort of 71 non-smoking patients with a confirmed diagnosis of CTD [24 with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), 21 with systemic sclerosis (SS), 20 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and six with polymyositis/ dermatomyositis (PM/DM)] were identified. The diagnostic techniques included pulmonary function tests, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), chest radiographs and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Disease extent and severity were assessed by a radiological and HRCT grading system. Three factors, accounting for 67% of the total variance, were extracted. The first factor (disease duration, diffusing lung capacity, neutrophils and CD8+ T cells on BAL, radiographic score and HRCT reticular score), with the highest percentage of variance (36.5%), defines a fibrotic lung pattern. The second factor (17.9% of variance) identifies an inflammatory lung pattern (macrophages, lymphocytes and eosinophils on BAL and HRCT ground-glass score). The third factor (12.6% of variance) represents a ventilatory function pattern (forced vital capacity, total lung capacity and forced respiratory volume in 1 s). The negative correlation between the fibrotic lung pattern and ventilatory function pattern, but not with the inflammatory lung pattern, suggests the presence of a significant derangement of the alveolar structures. In conclusion, application of factor analysis reveals various lung disease patterns in patients with CTD that might have different prognostic implications.

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