Aims and objectives
Systemic sclerosis (SS),
also known as scleroderma,
is an autoimmune collagen vascular disease (CVD) of unknown etiology and it causes abnormal collagen growth in tissues such as skin,
lung,
heart and digestive tract.
SS usually characterized by swelling in the fingertips,
joint pain and excessive tension and hardness of skin.
Pulmonary involvement is common in patients with SS and it is the most common cause of mortality [1-3].
In SS patients,
pulmonary involvement is seen as interstitial lung disease and parenchymal involvement prominent in the...
Methods and materials
This retrospective study received approval from our institutional local ethics committee.
Due to the retrospective nature of the study,
informed consent was not required.
The patients diagnosed with systemic sclerosis (SS) were retrospectively analyzed.From these patients who underwent HRCT scan within one month after the initial diagnosis and had SS-ILD on HRCT were included in the study.
Patients with history of malignancy or smoking and patients with additional rheumatologic disease were excluded from the study.
All HRCT scans were obtained in the supine position with...
Results
Totally,
51 patients (88.2% women [45 of 51] and 11.8% men [6 of 51]; mean age,
49.2 years + 13.9; range 18 - 71 years) who met the appropriate conditions were included in the study.
The mean time from diagnosis of SS to HRCT was 8 days (range; 1-23 days).
We found that 10 patients (19,6%,
8 women,
2 men) had a honeycombing dominant pattern on HRCT.
We found that 41 patients (80,4%,
37 women,
4 men) had a ground-glass dominant pattern on HRCT.
The...
Conclusion
In conclusion,
esophageal dilatation and bronchiectasis are frequently found in patients with SS-ILD,
at the time of initial diagnosis.
Bronchiectasis significantly more common in patients with SS-ILD diagnosis at the late age.
However,
bronchiololectasis in ground-glass opacity areas is more common in patients with SS-ILD diagnosis at early age.
There is a significant positive correlation between age of diagnosis and HRCT extensity score in patients with SS-ILD.
The diagnosis of SS-ILD at early ages may be of great importance for survival.
References
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Connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease: a call for clarification.
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2. Solomon JJ,
Olson AL,
Fischer A,
Bull T,
Brown KK,
Raghu G.
Scleroderma lung disease.
Eur Respir Rev 2013; 22:6–19.
3. Ioannidis JP,
Vlachoyiannopoulos PG,
Haidich AB et al.
Mortality in systemic sclerosis: an international meta-analysis of individual patient data.
Am J Med.
2005; 118:2-10.
4. Lynch DA.
Lung disease related to collagen vascular disease.
J Thorac Imaging.
2009;...