Coexistence of Bronchiectasis Related with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Posttuberculosis Lung Disease - An Everpresent Issue

The lung is a common site of involvement both in TB and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease, caused by disease itself or therapy. After completion of antiTB treatment, post TB lung disease (PTLD) residual changes persist and affect heath, survival and quality of life, mainly in patients with associated collagen diseases, as RA. Bronchiectasis are described in both RA and PTLD. The purpose of this prevalence study of bronchiectasis, performed among 92 RA hospitalized patients, from June 2017 to June 2019, consists in a pictorial assessment of the lung involvement changes, noticed on chest radiography and/or computed tomography, described in relation with TB sequelae, severity and duration of RA disease. Results. A high prevalence of imagistic abnormalities was found in 77.2% of cases (n=71/92). Bronchiectasis was a frequent imagistic chest finding (24/71; 33.8%), having a lower frequency among all study group patients (n=24/92; 26%), mostly older nonsmoker females. Conclusions. In a high TB burden, as Romania, the prevalence of bronchiectasis is related with advanced RA disease, being strongly correlated with persistent respiratory symptoms (p=0.009), and coexisting PTLD calcified nodular lung sequelae (p=0.001).