Lung Involvement in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis, Analysis of ERA UCLouvain Brussels FINDRA Cohort

FROIDURE Antoine¹, DOYEN Marie², PERROT Marie¹, GHAYE Benoit³, SAPART Emilie⁴, BEARZATTO Bertrand⁵, DURANT Jean-François⁵, AMBROISE Jérôme⁵, GALA Jean-Luc⁵, ZAN Deniz³, AVRAMOVSKA Aleksandra⁴, SOKOLOVA Tatiana⁴, KOENIG Sandra² and DUREZ Patrick⁴, ¹Pulmonology department, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium, ²Rheumatology department, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium, ³Radiology department, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium, ⁴Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc – Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) – Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), Rheumatology, Brussels, Belgium, ⁵Institute de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc - Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium

Meeting: ACR Convergence 2024

Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis

Session Information

Date: Saturday, November 16, 2024

Title: RA – Diagnosis, Manifestations, & Outcomes Poster I

Session Type: Poster Session A

Session Time: 10:30AM-12:30PM

Background/Purpose: The prevalence of lung involvement in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains elusive. We set up a prospective study to detect ILD, bronchiolitis and nodules in early RA.

Methods: The Factors of ILD in Newly Diagnosed RA (FINDRA, NCT04002765) study is a prospective multicentric trial. We proposed inclusion to patients with a newly diagnosed RA according to ACR/EULAR criteria and defined early disease as symptoms present for at least 1 year and maximum 10 years. After informed consent, patients underwent full respiratory evaluation consisting of an environmental questionnaire, HRCT, pulmonary function tests (PFT) and sampling for genetic analysis of common variants associated with RA-ILD. HRCT were centrally reviewed for the presence of ILD (primary outcome), expiratory trapping and nodules (secondary outcomes).

Results: We screened290 patients and excluded 32 who did not undergo the requested exams (N=30) or had a RA diagnosis older than 10 years (N=2). The median age of the 258 included patients was 56 years-old. The majority (71%) were female, 48% were ex- or current smokers. 71% had a positive rheumatoid factor and 67% positive anti-citrullinated peptides antibodies. The majority ware treated with methotrexate (77%) and/or another DMARD (50%).

We detected ILD in 38 patients (15%), emphysema in 51 (20%) and bronchiolitis in 89 (41%). Older age, male sex, disease activity and low diffusion capacity (DLCO) were associated with ILD; older age, male sex, smoking status and low DLCO were associated with emphysema. Finally, neither of the variables associated with air trapping.

Conclusion: In this multicentric prospective study with HRCT central review, lung involvement affected a high proportion of RA patients, bronchiolitis being the most prevalent, followed by emphysema and ILD. Old age and male sex were associated with both ILD and emphysema, suggesting that we should prioritize screening in this population. Analysis with genetic testings are ongoing.

Disclosures: F. Antoine: None; D. Marie: None; P. Marie: None; G. Benoit: None; S. Emilie: None; B. Bertrand: None; D. Jean-François: None; A. Jérôme: None; G. Jean-Luc: None; Z. Deniz: None; A. Aleksandra: None; S. Tatiana: None; K. Sandra: None; D. Patrick: None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Antoine F, Marie D, Marie P, Benoit G, Emilie S, Bertrand B, Jean-François D, Jérôme A, Jean-Luc G, Deniz Z, Aleksandra A, Tatiana S, Sandra K, Patrick D. Lung Involvement in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis, Analysis of ERA UCLouvain Brussels FINDRA Cohort [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2024; 76 (suppl 9). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/lung-involvement-in-early-rheumatoid-arthritis-analysis-of-era-uclouvain-brussels-findra-cohort/. Accessed .

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