Abstract:

Objective  To investigate the clinical features and risk factors of pulmonary infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods  The clinical data of 52 RA  patients with pulmonary infection and 200 RA patients without  pulmonary infectionwere retrospectively reviewed. Among them,  21 patients were severely infected. The clinical features and risk factors of RA complicated with pulmonary infection and severe pulmonary infection were analyzed. Results  There were 52 cases of pulmonary infection in RA patients,  the positive rate of sputum culture was 36.54%. Totally 25 strains of pathogens were detected,  including 10 strains of bacteria,  3 strains of mycoplasma and 12 strains of fungi. The analysis of related  factors of  pulmonary infection indicated that the independent risk factors included age(>60 years),  RA duration of(≥10 years),  smoking,  chronic lung disease, use of corticosteroids and the decrease of complement C4,  while the use of DMARDs was a protective factor. The analysis of related factors of severe pulmonary infection indicated thatindependent risk factors included RA  duration(≥10 years),  smoking,  chronic lung disease, use of corticosteroids,  and decrease of complement C4,  while the use of DMARDs was a protective factor. Conclusion  The pathogens of pulmonary infection in RA patients were mainly fungi and bacteria. Risk factors for pulmonary infection should be considered when deciding treatment for RA patient. The use of DMARDs can reduce the risk of pulmonary infection in RA patients.

Key words: arthritis, , rheumatoid, pulmonary infection, risk factors