In a large, single-center cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis-interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD), most patients were seropositive and had a history of smoking, a recent study found, although ILD most commonly occurred after the RA diagnosis. Researchers identified all patients with RA and ILD seen at the Mayo Clinic from 1998 to 2014. RA disease characteristics and pulmonary findings, including high-resolution CT and pulmonary function testing, were evaluated. The study included 181 patients with RA-associated ILD (96% Caucasian; 48% females; 37% never-smokers; mean age at diagnosis, 67.4 [SD=9.9]). Researchers found:

• Age, RA disease duration, and low initial diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide were predictive of premature mortality in multivariate modeling.
• Sex, smoking status, obstructive lung disease, seropositivity, and erosive disease were not associated with mortality.

The 5-year survival rate was 59.7%; survival did not differ between usual interstitial pneumonia, non-specific interstitial pneumonia, and organizing pneumonia