A Preliminary Study For The Correlation Between Lung Ultrasound And HRCT Of Connective Tissue Disease Associated Interstitial Lung Disease

Objective: To investigate the correlation between lung ultrasound and HRCT of connective tissue disease associated interstitial lung disease(CTD-ILD)and to assess the clinical value of lung ultrasound.Methods: 70 patients with connective tissue disease(including 32 cases of rheumatoid arthritis,16 cases of systemic lupus erythematosus,10 cases of Sjogren's syndrome,2cases of scleroderma,4 cases of dermatomyositis,6 cases of mixed connective tissue disease)were selected in the department of rheumatology of our hospital during July 1st,2017 to May 1st,2018.All patients underwent HRCT followed by lung ultrasound in two weeks with informed consents.We obtained and graded LUS score and Warrick score.The correlation between the two scoring methods and the consistency of two grades were analyzed.Results: HRCT was positive in 50 cases(46 cases were LUS positive,4 cases were LUS negative),negative in 20 cases(4 cases were LUS positive and 16 cases were LUS negative).When compared with HRCT as the gold standard method,the sensitivity,specificity,positive and negative predictive value of LUS was 82%?80%?4.1?0.225 respectively.The correlation between LUS score and HRCT score(r=0.870,p<0.001)was significantly positive.Kappa values between two grades was 0.598.Conclusions: There is a significantly positive correlation between LUS and HRCT in connective tissue disease associated interstitial lung disease.LUS could be a new imaging method for diagnosis and evaluation of interstitial lung disease associated with connective tissue disease and play a guiding role in the clinical treatment.