Frequency and involvement patterns of LUNG lesions in patients diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis

Introduction: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a disease that can cause systemic organ involvement with psoriatic skin lesions and joint retention. Lung lesions are frequently seen in many rheumatological inflammatory diseases, especially in connective tissue diseases. In PsA, it is possible to develop lung lesions secondary to the inflammatory processes in the pathogenesis of the disease and the drugs used in the treatment. Objective: In this study, it was aimed to describe the frequency and patterns of lung lesions in PsA patients. Methods: Demographic data, clinical findings, comorbiditels, pulmonary symptoms and imaging of 247 patients diagnosed with PSA according to CASPAR diagnostic criteria were reviewed retrospectively. Results: 247 patients with sufficient data for analysis were included in the study. Of the patients, 155 (62.8%) were female and 92 (37.2%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 52.04 ±12.6 years. There was at least one pulmonary lesion revealed by tomography in 25 patients (10.1%). Pulmonary nodules were observed in 21 (8.5%), airway lesions in 15 (6.1%) patients [8 emphysema (3.2%), 7 bronchitis (2.9%)], and interstitial lung disease (ILD) in 9 patients (3.6%). There was no patient with apical fibrosis. ILD patterns; Nonspecific Interstitial Pneumonia (NSIP) in 3 patients (1.2%), Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia (COP) in 2 patients (0.8%), probably Usual Interstitial Pneumonia (UIP) in 2 patients (0.8%), 2 patients (0.8%) categorized as unclassifiable type. The mean age was higher in patients with ILD (p:0.007). It was observed that ILD was more common in male gender (p:0.010), smoking history (p:0.012) and in the patient group using hydroxychloroquine (p:0.028). Conclusion: Approximately 10% of the patients followed up with the diagnosis of PsA had at least one lung lesion, and 3.6% had ILD. The frequency of ILD disease is lower than that of connective tissue diseases, which is another rheumatological disease group, and differs from ankylosing spondylitis in terms of involvement patterns. Key words: Psoriatic arthritis, interstitial lung disease, lung involvement