Non-specific interstitial pneumonia and features of connective tissue disease: What are the consequences of a different point of view?

Non-specific interstitial pneumonia and features of connective tissue disease: What are the consequences of a different point of view? Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 2018 Sep 04;88(3):970 Authors: Biffi A, Dei G, De Giacomi F, Stainer A, Parma LO, Pozzi MR, Faverio P, Pesci A Abstract Patients with Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) without a definitive diagnosis of connective tissue diseases (CTD) were historically described as Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease (UCTD-ILD). Recently a new classification, Interstitial Pneumonia with Autoimmune Features (IPAF), has been proposed. Aim of this study was to describe the prevalence, clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of UCTD and IPAF subjects in a cohort of Non-Specific Interstitial Pneumonia (NSIP) patients. This retrospective, observational study enrolled 102 adult patients characterized by NSIP pattern on High Resolution Computed Tomography, without a specific diagnosis of CTD. Three groups were identified according to patients' characteristics: IPAF, UCTD or idiopathic NSIP (iNSIP). Forty percent, 27% and 55% of patients showed diagnostic criteria for IPAF, UCTD and iNSIP, respectively. No significant differences in age, gender, smoking habit, pulmonary function tests and three-year survival rate were observed among study groups. IPAF patients with antisynthetase antibodies positivity, in comparison to IPAF without antisynthetase antibodies positivity, showed more frequentl...
Source: Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease - Category: Respiratory Medicine Tags: Monaldi Arch Chest Dis Source Type: research