The diagnostic utility of lung ultrasound in the assessment of interstitial lung disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis
Authors' conclusion
Lung ultrasound is a valuable diagnostic tool for RA-ILD and can be used as a screening method to identify patients who require further evaluation with chest HRCT.
Study context
- Population
- Patients over 18 years with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Shantou Central Hospital; High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and lung ultrasound (LUS) within one month76 with interstitial lung disease (ILD) on HRCT
- Participants
- 120 participants
- Comparison
- LUS vs chest HRCT as reference
- LUSn = 120
- HRCTn = 120reference
- Outcome
- Diagnostic accuracy of LUS for ILD in RA
Methodological detailsretrospective, single-centre
- Retrospective
- Single-centre
Performance
As reported in the abstract
Diagnostic accuracy of LUS (B-lines score >10) for ILD vs HRCT
| Test or model | Sensitivity | Specificity | PPV | NPV | Positive likelihood ratio | Negative likelihood ratio | Concordance rate | Kappa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LUS | 86.84% | 77.27% | 86.84% | 77.27% | 3.82 | 0.17 | 83.33% | 0.64 (95% CI 0.50-0.78) |
LUS
Sensitivity86.84%
Specificity77.27%
PPV86.84%
NPV77.27%
Positive likelihood ratio3.82
Negative likelihood ratio0.17
Concordance rate83.33%
Kappa0.64 (95% CI 0.50-0.78)
Further findings
| Outcome | RA with ILD | RA without ILD | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of B-lines, RA with vs without ILD on HRCTSignificant difference | 34.0 (bracketed range as printed 15.0–96.5) | 6.5 (bracketed range as printed 2.5–10.0) | P < 0.001 |
Optimal cutoff: 12 B-lines on 50 scanning sites (ScS) for detecting RA-ILD
- AUC
- 0.89 (95% CI 0.82-0.94; P < 0.001)
- Sensitivity
- 85.53%
- Specificity
- 81.82%
Original publication
The diagnostic utility of lung ultrasound in the assessment of interstitial lung disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Res Ther. Published 30 July 2025. doi:10.
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