Objective: Interstitial lung diseases (ILD) form a diverse group of parenchymal lung disorders. Currently, a multidisciplinary team (MDT) including pulmonologists, radiologists, and pathologists is the gold standard for ILD diagnosis. Recently, additional subtypes of connective tissue disease (CTD)-ILD with autoimmune features were defined, making the rheumatological assessment increasingly important. We aimed to assess the effect of adding a rheumatologist to the MDT for routine rheumatology assessment.
Methods: A prospective study that assessed newly diagnosed ILD patients by 2 parallel blinded arms; all patients were evaluated by both MDT (e.g., history, physical examination, blood tests, pulmonary function tests, and biopsies, if needed) and a rheumatologist (e.g., history, physical examination, blood and serological tests).
Results: Sixty patients were assessed with the mean age of 67.3 ± 12 years, 55% male, and 28% smokers. The rheumatological assessment reclassified 21% of the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis as CTD. Moreover, the number of CTD-ILD with autoimmune features was increased by 77%. These included antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis, antisynthetase syndrome, and IgG4-related ILD. Retrospectively, rheumatological evaluation could have saved 7 bronchoscopies and 1 surgical biopsy.
Conclusion: Adding routine rheumatology assessments could significantly increase diagnostic accuracy and reduce invasive procedures.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.171314 | DOI Listing |
Clin Rheumatol
January 2025
Rheumatology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Objective: The objective of this study is to present the clinical characteristics of immunoglobulin G4-related diseases (IgG4-RD) patients and describe associated overlap with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs).
Patients And Methods: This cross-sectional study included 81 patients with IgG4-RD who were recruited from 13 specialized rheumatology departments and centers across the country in collaboration with the Egyptian College of Rheumatology (ECR). Patients underwent a thorough history-taking and clinical examination.
Acad Radiol
December 2024
Department of Radiology, Cardiothoracic Imaging, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (H.C., K.O., S.A.); Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (A.A., A.S., A.G.J., S.A.). Electronic address:
Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an immune dysregulation disorder affecting multiple organs. Cardiac involvement, prevalently myocardial, is associated with poor outcomes in SSc patients. Several investigations explored the role of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in the diagnosis of scleroderma-related cardiomyopathy and analyzed the clinical, radiologic, and pathologic correlations utilizing CMR examinations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Eval Clin Pract
February 2025
Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, IMSS Hospital General de Zona Número 17, Monterrey, Nuevo León, México.
Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a progressive autoimmune inflammatory disease. According to the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), the stages of RA progression include pre-RA, preclinical RA, inflammatory arthralgia, arthralgia with positive antibodies, arthralgia suspected of progressing to RA, undifferentiated arthritis and finally established RA. According to the Community Oriented Program for Control of Rheumatic Diseases (COPCORD), the prevalence of RA in Mexico is 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWorld J Nephrol
December 2024
Hospital Pediatry, Saint-Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University, Saint Petersburg 194100, Sankt-Peterburg, Russia.
Background: Juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a severe, life-threatening disease. However, the role of rituximab in managing juvenile SLE remains undefined, although early biological intervention may improve disease outcomes.
Aim: To assess the differences in the outcomes of different types of rituximab administration (early and late).
Rom J Intern Med
December 2024
Department of Internal Medicine Goztepe Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Kadikoy/Istanbul, Türkiye.
Introduction: The aim of the study was to assess the etiological distribution of patients with an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) over 100 mm/hour and to evaluate differences in demographic, comorbidity, laboratory characteristics, and clinical outcomes.
Methods: This retrospective observational clinical study included patients aged 18 years and older who were admitted to the internal medicine inpatient clinic between May 1, 2015 and June 1, 2021 and had ESR values above 100 mm/h. Demographic data, comorbidities, laboratory parameters, imaging studies, histopathological findings, microbiological and serological data, along with in-hospital and post-discharge mortality, were collected from the hospital's electronic database.
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