Clinicoradiological Profile of Patients with Connective Tissue related Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Disease

Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Disease (DPLD) is one of the most serious pulmonary complications associated with connective tissue diseases (CTDs), resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Although the various CTDs associated with DPLD often are considered together because of their shared autoimmune nature, there are substantial differences in the clinical presentations and management of DPLD in each specific CTD. Methods: An observational crosssectional study was carried out in a single tertiary care center in northern India which included 50 consecutive subjects (age >12 years) of DPLD and amongst them patients having connective tissue diseases associated DPLD (CTD)-DPLD were studied.In this study, the clinical, radiological data of the subjects was collected. Results & Conclusion: Out of 50 patients, 13 patients turned out to be CTD-DPLD. The most common of these was Rheumatoid arthritis (53.8%) followed by Systemic sclerosis (38.4%) and sjogresn syndrome (7.7%). The average age in CTD-DPLD came out to be 47.8 years as opposed to 49.04 in DPLD patients. The average age in RA was 58.6 years, Systemic sclerosis was 40 years and Sjogrens syndrome was 45 years. Majority (92.3%) were females.