Radiographic airway abnormalities in untreated early rheumatoid arthritis are associated with peripheral neutrophil activation

Table 1 Patient demographics and clinical characteristics

Variables	Untreated early RA patients (n = 30)
Age, median (range), years	58 (22–75)
Female sex, n (%)	25 (83%)
Smoking status, n (%)
Never smoker	18 (60%)
Former smoker	6 (20%)
Current smoker	6 (20%)
Self-reported lung disease history, n (%)	4 (13%)
Symptom duration, median (range), months	6 (1–31)
Disease activity, n (%)
SJC28, median (range)	7 (1–17)
TJC28, median (range)	7 (0–16)
ESR (mm), median (range)	19.5 (2–104)
CRP (mg/L), median (range)	7.6 (0.7–105)
DAS28, mean (± SD)	4.9 (± 1.1)
DAS28-CRP, mean (± SD)	4.6 (± 1.0)
CDAI, mean (± SD)	23.6 (± 9.1)
SDAI, mean (± SD)	25.4 (± 10.1)
Joint erosion, n (%)	7 (24%)
RF positive, n (%)^a	22 (73%)
ACPA positive, n (%)^b	23 (77%)
RF and ACPA positive, n (%)^a,b	16 (53%)

RA Rheumatoid arthritis, SJC28 Swollen joint count in 28 joints, TJC28 Tender joint count in 28 joints, CRP C-reactive protein, ESR Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, DAS28 Disease activity score in 28 joints with ESR, CDAI Clinical disease activity index, SDAI Simple disease activity index, RF Rheumatoid factor, ACPA Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies. Symptom duration is defined as time since appearance of patient reported RA symptoms
^aRF IgM levels > 5 kIE/L and/or RF IgA > 20 kIE/L are considered positive
^bACPA level > 5 U/mL is considered positive

ISSN: 1478-6362