RESULTS
ILD cohort consisted of 1351 patients and 314 of them were identified as CTD associated ILD, satisfying classification criteria of one of the CTDs. Patients followed up less than 6 months were excluded. Among the remaining, 57 patients received AZA and and 79 patients were given CYC for induction therapy and were included.
Demographics and disease characteristics of the study patients are presented in Table 1. AZA treated patients were significantly older, had shorter duration of pulmonary symptoms, less extensive disease and better forced vital capacity (FVC) at baseline compared to CYC group (Table 1). NSIP pattern was more frequently seen in all sub-groups except for RA patients. Patients diagnosed with newly defined IPAF were significantly more likely to get AZA, whereas, those with SSc were more likely to get CYC for induction therapy.