Inflammatory myositis-associated interstitial lung disease can be distinguished from that associated with other connective tissue diseases.

Background: Acute onset of interstitial lung disease (ILD) has been described in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myositis (IIM), but controlled studies about this issue are sparse. The aim of this study was to compare disease onset, demographics, and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) patterns in IIM-ILD and other connective tissue disease (CTD)-ILDs.

Methods: Clinical and radiological data of 22 IIM-ILD and 132 other CTD-ILD patients was retrospectively gathered from hospital registries between January 2000 and November 2019.