Pulmonary diffusion abnormalities in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A longitudinal study
Hugo Maisonneuve, Benedicte Caron, Anne Guillaumot, Mathias Poussel, David Sorel, François Chabot, Bruno Ribeiro Baptista, Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet, Ari Chaouat, Simon ValentinBackground
Impaired diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DL CO ) has been frequently described among patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, but longitudinal data of DL CO impairment and its association with IBD activity remain unclear.
Objectives
To describe the longitudinal report of prevalence and clinical characteristics of chronic DL CO impairment among patients with IBD reporting respiratory symptoms.
Design
We conducted a prospective single-center study including consecutive patients with confirmed IBD and respiratory symptoms.
Methods
Patients underwent longitudinal evaluation with chest CT scans and pulmonary function tests.
Results
Among 75 patients with DL CO measurements, 12 (16%) showed persistently reduced DL CO over a median follow-up of 26.9 [IQR 24.9–30.6] months. Median DL CO was 63.4% of predicted value. All patients had mild or inactive IBD and were on biologics. Imaging abnormalities were mild and did not explain the DL CO reduction.
Conclusions
Chronic DL CO impairment was observed in 16.0% of IBD patients and no obvious association with clinically active IBD was observed in this selected symptomatic cohort.