Keywords:
Inflammation, Connective tissue disorders, Education, Diagnostic procedure, Plain radiographic studies, CT, Thorax, Respiratory system, Lung
Authors:
V. B. Antunes, J. Capobianco, G. Meirelles, I. Missrie, C. verrastro, A. V. B. Pavani, G. SZARF, A. Marchini da Silva, V. Lajarin, C. Figueiredo; Sao Paulo/BR
DOI:
10.26044/esti2019/P-0065
Background
Collagen vascular diseases (CVD) are a spectrum of systemic autoimmune disorders,
which commonly lead to thoracic changes.
Though these disorders have unique and distinguishing features,
they share the common underlying mechanisms of systemic autoimmunity and immune-mediated organ damage.
The frequency of intrathoracic manifestations and the patterns of abnormality are variable depending on the type of CVD and may involve: lung parenchyma,
airways,
pulmonary vessels,
pericardium,
and pleura.
The collagen vascular diseases that most frequently involve the lungs are rheumatoid arthritis (RA),
systemic lupus erythematosus (LE),
inflammatory idiopathic myopathies (IM) (polymyositis and dermatomyositis),
Sjögren’s syndrome (SS),
systemic sclerosis (SScl),
mixed connective tissue disease (MCD) and Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune feature (IPAF).1,2,3
Although chest radiography is the imaging modality most frequently used,
especially for screening and monitoring of thoracic alterations of CVD,
high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is the method of choice for assessment of pulmonary abnormalities,
offering better differentiation of the interstitial patterns,
prognosis,
evaluation of disease progression and differential diagnosis.2