Acute respiratory involvement in Colombian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus undergoing chest computed tomography.

Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an inflammatory disease which affects multiple organs. The respiratory system is compromised in 1.6% to 36% of the patients with SLE. The objective of this study was to know the prevalence of these alterations, their associated variables, and outcomes in patients with SLE between 2012 and 2017.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 200 patients with SLE underwent chest computed tomography (CT). The primary outcome was acute respiratory involvement (ARI). A descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analysis were performed using Stata 12.0 software.

Results: ARI was present in 40% of the SLE patients undergoing chest CT. The most frequent ARI was pleural effusion in 33%, followed by pneumonia (16.5%), lupus pneumonitis (9%), pulmonary embolism (3%) and pulmonary hemorrhage (2.5%). In bivariate and multivariate analysis a statistically significant association between ARI and nephropathy, hematological impairment, active disease, dead, readmission and prolonged hospital stay was found.

Conclusion: This is the first Colombian study that evaluates ARI in patients with SLE. ARI is an important and frequent condition in patients with SLE, pleural effusion being the most prevalent cause of ARI. There are some variables (nephropathy, hematological impairment and activity disease) that are associated with ARI and could be the basis of intervention.