Thymus variants on imaging in patients with rheumatoid arthritis-clinical and immunological significance.
Rheumatology (Oxford)
; 60(12): 5595-5600, 2021 12 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33590850
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
We sought to clarify the presence of radiographic thymus variants using a scoring system, and their association with clinical and immunological features in RA patients.METHODS:
A total of 387 RA patients were randomly selected from all patients visiting our department who underwent chest CT scanning, with exclusion of patients with thymoma or thymic cyst, or age < 30 years. Thymus size and attenuation score in axial CT images were quantitatively interpreted and assessed. Associations between immunophenotype data and clinical and serological features were analysed in a subset of patients.RESULTS:
Thymic enlargement was found in 76 (19.6%) patients, and a thymus attenuation score ≥ 2 was found in 50 (12.9%) patients. The score was significantly associated with antibodies to ACPA positivity. Thymic enlargement was significantly associated with the proportions of CD4+ effector memory T cells.CONCLUSION:
Radiographic thymus variants were frequently observed in RA patients and may reflect an abnormal immune response involved in the pathogenesis of RA.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
/
Autoantibodies
/
Thymoma
/
Thymus Gland
/
Thymus Neoplasms
/
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
/
Memory T Cells
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Rheumatology (Oxford)
Journal subject:
REUMATOLOGIA
Year:
2021
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Japan