%0 Journal Article %A Laure Tabeze %A Raphael Borie %A Jean Emmanuel Kahn %A Emilie Catherinot %A Bruno Crestani %A Louis Jean Couderc %T Rituximab therapy for interstitial lung disease in patients with antisynthetase syndrome %D 2013 %J European Respiratory Journal %P P5121 %V 42 %N Suppl 57 %X Objective: To retrospectively analyze the response to Rituximab in patients with antisynthetase syndrome-related interstitial lung disease (ILD-ASS).Methods: Clinical and biological data, high resolution CT-scan features and pulmonary function tests were collected from medical records of all patients with ILD-ASS treated with rituximab at Respiratory Medicine Departments in 2 university hospitals, before rituximab infusion, and at 3 and 6 months post-treatment.Results: 8 non smokers patients, 37-68 yrs old (mean, 55 yrs) with anti Jo-1 (6/8), anti PL-7 or anti PL-12 antibodies (one each) were studied. All patients had been previously treated with corticosteroids and 5/8 had failed to respond to other immunosuppressants. 5 patients had myositis at the time of rituximab treatment. Rituximab was given as a 1000 mg infusion at week 0 and 2 (5 patients) or as a four weekly 375 mg / m2 infusions (3 patients) and was well tolerated. During follow up, clinical and radiological improvement occurred in 6 and 7 patients respectively. The mean improvement of FVC was 16% and DLCO 19%. The mean increase of 6MWT was 21% (mean 64 meters). All patients were alive after a follow-up period of 6 months.Conclusions: Most patients (6/8) exhibited clinical, radiological and pulmonary functional improvement within the 3-6 months follow-up after rituximab. Our positive preliminary results suggest to perform further randomized studies to determinate the interest of rituximab as a first-line therapy in patients with ILD – ASS. %U https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/erj/42/Suppl_57/P5121.full.pdf