Correlation between imaging characteristics and activity of interstitial lung disease in systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the correlation between CT features and activity of interstitial lung disease associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.Methods A total of 131 patients with interstitial lung disease in systemic lupus erythematosus were included for analysis of disease activity score，imaging features，and Kazerooni score for pulmonary interstitial fibrosis based on high-resolution computed tomography. The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient test was used to analyze the correlations between the scores.Results The ground glass opacity score in the Kazerooni scoring system was positively correlated with the systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index-2000（SLEDAI-2000），and the correlation was statistically significant（r_s=0.388，P<0.001）. There was no significant correlation between Kazerooni fibrosis score and SLEDAI-2000（P=0.837）. The ground glass opacity score was the highest in the diffuse alveolar damage group，the fibrosis score was the highest in the usual interstitial pneumonia group，and the differences were significant（both P<0.001）. There was no significant difference in SLEDAI-2000 between different types of interstitial lung disease（P>0.05）.Conclusion Chest high-resolution computed tomography can help to comprehensively evaluate systemic lupus erythematosus and has great significance for formulation of treatment plans.