PhD Scientific Days 2022

Clinical Medicine VII. (Poster discussion will take place in the Aula during the Coffee Break)

Functional decline in the normal range is an important sign in systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease

Text of the abstract

Introduction: Treatment initiation with antifibrotics in fibrosing interstitial lung diseases (ILD) in early stages is still challenging.
Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate real-world clinical characteristics and response to antifibrotic treatment in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) associated ILD and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients with preserved lung function.
Methods: Between 2017 and 2019 31 SSc-ILD patients and 53 IPF patients were diagnosed at the Department of Pulmonology Semmelweis University, and all cases were discussed at the interstitial lung disease multidisciplinary team (MDD) at our university center. Pulmonary symptoms, complex lung function with CO diffusion, therapy and adverse events were analyzed longitudinally.
Results: The mean age of the SSc-ILD patients was 59.8 age however, IPF patients were significantly older with 68.9 years of age. Female predominance was detected among SSc-ILD patients (93.5%) while slightly more male IPF patients were presented (52.8%). The body mass index (BMI) confirmed slight overweight in SSc-ILD, while overweight with significantly higher values among IPF patients (27.7 vs. 25.2; p=0.006). Baseline total lung capacity (TLC, % pred) was significantly higher in the SSc-ILD group (p=0.022). Diffusion parameters showed a worse transfer coefficient (KLCO, % pred) in SSc-ILD group compared to IPF group (<0.005).
Conclusion: Our data confirmed, that SSc-ILD patients lose lung function over time even in the physiologic range, and this needs more attention as early interventions might reverse/slow down decline.
Funding: The author were supported by the “Development of scientific workshops of medical, health sciences and pharmaceutical educations” (EFOP‐3.6.3‐VEKOP‐16‐2017‐00009).