• Sinead Harney.
• Chest. 2014 Mar 1;145(3 Suppl):252A.

Session TitleILD PostersSESSION TYPE: Poster PresentationsPRESENTED ON: Saturday, March 22, 2014 at 01:15 PM - 02:15 PMPURPOSE: Pulmonary complications of connective tissue disease (CTD) are common. Recent studies have shown benefit with rituximab (RTX) in the treatment of CTD related interstitial lung disease1,2. We performed a review to assess the benefit of RTX in five patients with pulmonary complications of CTD.MethodsPre- and post-treatment pulmonary function, exercise physiology, echocardiograph and HRCT thorax data were obtained from medical notes and analysed.ResultsFour patients were treated for systemic sclerosis related ILD (SSc-ILD) and one patient had rheumatoid arthritis ILD (RA-ILD). Three patients received RTX after failure of alternate immunosuppression. All 5 patients demonstrated either radiological and/or physiological improvement in response to RTX. No patient had a significant side effect of treatment.ConclusionsRTX is a chimeric monoclonal antibody with activity against CD20 expressed by B-cells. Evidence has shown benefit from rituximab used either alone or in conjunction with other immunosuppressive agents. Our patients represent a cohort in whom RTX therapy has been beneficial.Clinical ImplicationsThese results indicate that consideration should be given to RTX therapy in patients with connective tissue disease related pulmonary complications.DisclosureThe following authors have nothing to disclose: Deirdre Fitzgerald, Sinead Harney, Michael HenryNo Product/Research Disclosure Information.

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