HIGH DEFINITION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS ASSOCIATED PULMONARY DISEASE

Eighteen patients with rheumatoid arthritis (American RheumatismAssociation definition) were selected consecutively from a rheumatologyclinic. All patients were examined with plain chest radiographs,thin slice computed tomography, and pulmonary function tests.Four patients with normal chest radiographs, and normal pulmonaryfunction tests were found to have normal CT scans. In ten patients,abnormalities consistent with rheumatoid associated lung diseasewere demonstrated, including changes of interstitial fibrosisin seven cases. This fibrosis had a predominantly peripheralpattern on CT scan. Computed tomography was found to be moresensitive than plain radiographs in detecting abnormalitieshowever, all the patients in this series with CT lung changeshad abnormalities on pulmonary function testing. KEY WORDS: Computed tomography, Rheumatoid arthritis, Interstitial pulmonary fibrosis