Imaging aspects of interstitial lung disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: Literature review.

OBJECTIVE: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a frequent and severe complication of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), resulting in pulmonary fibrosis (PF) and respiratory failure.

METHODS: Chest computed tomography (CT-c) or high resolution CT (HRCT) is the main modality for assessment of ILD. We performed a systematic literature review on CT-c/HRCT findings in patients with ILD-RA, using the MEDLINE database for the period from 1991 to 2015.

RESULTS: Findings on CT-c/HRCT attributed to ILD-RA are variable (ground glass opacities, reticular and nodular pattern, as well as a combined pattern of emphysema and PF). Correlation of CT-c/HRCT findings with clinical data is inconsistent.

CONCLUSIONS: ILD-RA is part of a general autoimmune inflammation and should be integrated into the decision-making process for the treatment of RA. There is an unmet need to design an algorithm which will allow prediction of CT-c changes compatible with ILD-RA with a high probability. Hopefully, this will enable treating patients with ILD-RA early, with possible halting of the progression of ILD-RA toward PF.