Аңдатпа
Background: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a promising tool for screening for interstitial lung disease (ILD) in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). However, data on the frequency of its use as a screening tool in clinical practice are limited. Objectives: To assess use of LUS for screening for SARD-ILDs among physicians in Central and Eastern Europe. Methods: Pulmonologists and rheumatologists from Central and Eastern Europe who were treating patients with lung fibrosis were surveyed using Survey Monkey between February and April 2024. Physicians were asked if they proactively screened patients with SARDs for ILDs, and if so, which tools they used and for which categories of patients. The categories were: patients with SSc at time of diagnosis, patients with SSc on a regular basis, patients with RA and risk factors, patients with RA and respiratory symptoms, patients with other SARDs and risk factors, and patients with other SARDs and respiratory symptoms. Responses were analysed according to specialty (pulmonologist or rheumatologist) and level of healthcare (secondary care [private practice, private hospital, community hospital] or tertiary care [tertiary hospital, university clinic]). The average use of LUS for each category of patient per specialty and per level of healthcare was calculated using data from countries with ≥9 respondents. Results: Responses from 1084 physicians were included in the analysis. The respondents were 633 pulmonologists and 451 rheumatologists from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. Overall, LUS was used as a screening tool by 17% and 25% of pulmonologists in secondary and tertiary care, respectively, and by 17% and 14% of rheumatologists in secondary and tertiary care, respectively. The most frequent use of LUS as a screening tool was in patients with RA and respiratory symptoms among pulmonologists in tertiary care (14%). Among rheumatologists in secondary care, 7% used LUS to screen for ILD in patients with RA and respiratory symptoms and 7% to screen for ILD in patients with other SARDs and respiratory symptoms. Among rheumatologists in tertiary care, 5% used LUS to screen for ILD in patients with RA and respiratory symptoms and 7% to screen for ILD in patients with other SARDs and respiratory symptoms. The least frequent use of LUS as a screening tool was in patients with RA and risk factors, and in patients with other SARDs and risk factors, among pulmonologists in secondary care (2%). Conclusion: A survey of pulmonologists and rheumatologists from Central and Eastern Europe suggested that LUS is an infrequently used tool for screening for SARD-ILD. REFERENCES: NIL . Acknowledgements: This was a collaborative research study supported by Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG. Writing support was provided by Fleishman-Hillard, London, UK, funded by Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG. Disclosure of Interests: Maria Sanzharovskaya is an employee of Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG, Yochai Adir: None declared, Alan Altraja has received payment for expert testimony from Actelion, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, CSL Behring, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Teva, has served as a speaker for Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Berlin-Chemie Menarini, Boehringer Ingelheim, CSL Behring, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, KRKA, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Norameda, Novartis, Orion, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda, Teva, Zentiva has served as a consultant for Actelion, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, CSL Behring, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Teva, has received support for attending meetings from Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Berlin-Chemie Menarini, Boehringer Ingelheim, CSL Behring, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, KRKA, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Norameda, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda, Teva, United Therapeutics, has participated on Data Safety Monitoring Boards or Advisory Boards for Actelion, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, CSL Behring, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Teva, is a member of the board of the Estonian Respiratory Society, has received grants/research support paid to his institution from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Berlin-Chemie Menarini, GlaxoSmithKline, Medis Pharma, Norameda, Pfizer, Takeda, and research support to both himself and his institution from CSL Behring, and reports receipt of equipment, materials, drugs, medical writing, or other services to his institution from AstraZeneca, Berlin-Chemie Menarini, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, United Therapeutics, Roza Bekenova: None declared, Pascal Baltzer has received funding for a contrast-enhanced mammography study from BRACCO, Inita Bulina has served as a speaker for AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Stada, and has served as a consultant for AbbVie, Catalin Codreanu has served as a speaker for AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ewopharma, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Sandoz, and has received grant/research support from AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lilly, Pfizer, Nataliya Deresh has served as a speaker for Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and has received grant/research support from NeuroRx and Merck/Serono, Sanja Dimic-Janjic has served as a speaker for AstraZeneca, Berlin-Chemie Menarini, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Takeda, Marta Hájková: None declared, Ana Hećimović has served as a speaker for Boehringer Ingelheim, CSL Behring, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Providens, Roche, Yavor Ivanov: None declared, Ivica Jeremic has served as a speaker for AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Pfizer, Martina Koziar Vašáková has served as a speaker for Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, Roche, has served as a consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, and has received grant/research support from Roche, Alvils Krams has served as a paid instructor for Boehringer Ingelheim, has served as a speaker for AstraZeneca, Berlin-Chemie Menarini, Boehringer Ingelheim, Norameda (Chiesi), has served on advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Sharp & Dohme, and has received grant/research support from Roche, David Lang has served as a speaker and consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim, Zelmira Macejova: None declared, Joanna Makowska has served as a speaker for Boehringer Ingelheim, Merav Lidar: None declared, Parvoleta Peteva has served as a speaker for AbbVie and Novartis, Florentine Moazedi-Fuerst has served as a consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim, Veronika Mueller has served as a consultant for Actelion, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Berlin-Chemie Menarini, Bristol Myers Squibb, Chiesi, Gilead, Lilly, Medison Pharma, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Richter, Roche, Sanofi, György Nagy: None declared, Wojciech J Piotrowski has served as a speaker for Boehringer Ingelheim and Chiesi, and has served as a consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim, Svitlana Pochepnia: None declared, Mislav Radić has served as a speaker for Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Pfizer, Eva Straka is an employee of Boehringer Ingelheim RCV GmbH & Co KG, Claudia L Toma has served as a speaker for Angelini, AOP, AstraZeneca, Berlin-Chemie Menarini, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Chiesi, Janssen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Sanofi, Terapia, Zentiva, and has served as a consultant for AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Novartis, Sanofi, Michal Tomčík has served as a speaker for AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Pfizer, Sandoz, Sanofi, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, UCB, and has received grant/research support from Arxx Therapeutics, Madina Yessengeldinova: None declared, Helmut Prosch has served as a speaker for AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Sanofi, has served as a consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Sanofi, and has received grant/research support from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Siemens. © The Authors 2025. This abstract is an open access article published in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Neither EULAR nor the publisher make any representation as to the accuracy of the content. The authors are solely responsible for the content in their abstract including accuracy of the facts, statements, results, conclusion, citing resources etc.