Lung Clearance Index in Connective Tissue Disease - Pilot Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Is the Lung Clearance Index superior to spirometry in detecting lung disease in patients with connective tissue disease? - A Pilot Study.
IRAS ID
220356
Contact name
Huzaifa Adamali
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
88519, EDGE
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis and connective tissue disease are at risk of respiratory complications. Currently these patients are assessed by undergoing a set of lung function tests that include spirometry, lung volume and diffusion capacity tests. These tests provide information on airway function, lung size and the efficiency of oxygen transfer in the lungs. These lung function tests are often normal in early respiratory disease and therefore a more sensitive method of identifying underlying lung disease would be beneficial to help identify lung disease earlier.
The Lung Clearance Index (LCI), obtained from a test known as the multi-breath nitrogen washout has been shown to be sensitive to early lung disease in diseases such as cystic fibrosis and the reason for undertaking this study is to explore whether this test would be useful in identifying lung disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and connective tissue disease.
In this study patient with rheumatoid arthritis or connective tissue disease will be asked to complete spirometry (a test that involves forced breathing out), multi-breath nitrogen washout (a test that involves normal and gentle breathing) and two quality of life questionnaires. We will also ask participants who do not have rheumatoid arthritis, connective tissue disease or lung disease to complete the spirometry and multi-breath nitrogen washout tests so that we can see what a normal result would be. These additional tests will take approximately 90 minutes to complete and will take place at North Bristol NHS Trust.REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SC/0151
Date of REC Opinion
29 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion