TY  - JOUR
TI  - Treatment with biologic DMARDs may not adversely
affect lung nodules in rheumatoid arthritis patients
AB  - Objective: Lung nodules (LNs) impose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in patients with rheuma-
toid arthritis (RA) due to unpredictable outcomes. Potential induction of nodulosis with the use of con-
ventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARD) and lack of knowledge regarding the effect of biologic
disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs)/tofacitinib on the LN raise concerns and have an
impact on treatment decisions. This study aims to evaluate the possible effects of the bDMARDs/tofa-
citinib and csDMARDS on LNs observed in RA patients.
Methods: Electronic health records of RA patients who had LNs detected on computed tomography
(CT) between January 2015 and December 2020 were evaluated retrospectively. Patients with follow-
up CT images were included in the study. Baseline and follow-up images were meticulously examined
for the number, size, attenuation, and cavity formation. Clinical, histopathologic, and laboratory find-
ings were analyzed.
Results: Forty-two RA patients with LNs were studied, 21 were on bDMARDs/tofacitinib (11 females,
mean age: 59.7 6 8.4) and 21 were on csDMARDs (12 females, mean age: 71.4 6 8.3). The proportion
of patients with progressed nodules during follow-up was comparable between groups (six patients
in bDMARDs/tofacitinib vs seven patients in csDMARDs). Progression of LNs was observed in six
patients in the bDMARDs/tofacitinib group: three in anti-TNFa, two in rituximab, and one in abatacept
users and none in tofacitinib users.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that the risk of progression in LNs in RA patients with use of
bDMARDs/tofacitinib might not impose a higher risk compared to csDMARDs. Moreover, bDMARDs/
tofacitinib might result in regression in LNs
AU  - AVANOĞLU GÜLER, Aslıhan
AU  - ATAŞ, Nur
AU  - SATİŞ, Hasan
AU  - öztürk, mehmet akif
AU  - HAZNEDAROĞLU, Şeminur
AU  - TUFAN, Abdurrahman
AU  - Goker, Berna
AU  - BİLİCİ SALMAN, Reyhan
AU  - BABAOĞLU, Hakan
AU  - CİNDİL, Emetullah
AU  - KARADENİZ, HAZAN
DO  - 10.5152/eujrheum.2022.21067
PY  - 2022
JO  - European Journal of Rheumatology
VL  - 9
IS  - 2
SN  - 2147-9720
SP  - 75
EP  - 81
DB  - TRDizin
UR  - http://search/yayin/detay/524283
ER  -