LAUSR

Background: Currently, lung ultrasound (LUS) is increasingly used in rheumatology. Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between lung ultrasound and pulmonary function and disease activity in patients with rheumatic diseases with secondary lung involvement. Methods: Thirty patients with rheumatic diseases were included in the study, who, according to the data of the high-resolution RCT of lungs (64-slice CT system Philips Diamond Select Brilliance), showed interstitial lung involvement as a type of nonspecific interstitial pneumonia. In 4 patients, mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) was diagnosed, 20 had systemic vasculitis (SV), and 6 had rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The mean age of the patients was 56,55 ± 10,59, the duration of the disease was 2,3 ± 1,2 years. All patients underwent a standard clinical examination, the following indices and scales were used to assess the activity of the underlying disease: VDI damage index, Bermingham systemic vasculitis activity scale (BVAS), RA activity scale (DAS 28-CRP). The functional state of the lungs was assessed using spirometry, bodipletismography, gas diffusion “single breath”. LUS was carried out for the evaluation of the location and number of B-lines on both right and left hemithoraces using commercially available echographic equipment with a 5-12 MHz linear transducer (Accuvix A30, Samsung Medison). Results: Most patients had an average number of B-lines 24,5[11,5;34,0]. Тhere were no significant differences in the number of В-lines between groups of patients of different nosologies. The total number of В-lines correlated with the index of activity of systemic vasculitis BVAS (р<0,05; r=0,83). There were no statistically significant correlations with clinical manifestations of pulmonary involvement. Conclusion: Lung ultrasound may be useful in screening secondary lung involvement in patients with rheumatic diseases with high activity. References: [1]Dietrich CF, Mathis G, Blaivas M, Volpicelli G, Seibel A, Wastl D, Atkinson NS, Cui XW, FanM, Yi D. Lung B-line artefacts and their use. J Thorac Dis 2016;8(6):1356-1365. doi: 10.21037/jtd.2016.04.55 [2]Tatiana Barskova, Luna Gargani, Serena Guiducci, et al. Lung ultrasound for the screening of interstitial lung disease in very early systemic sclerosis Ann Rheum Dis 2013 72: 390-395 originally published online May 15 2012 doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2011-201072 Disclosure of Interests: None declared