Puneet Varma (Editor)

Rheumatoid lung disease

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Rheumatoid Lung Disease, also called Rheumatoid Lung is a disease of the lung associated with rheumatoid arthritis. It is estimated that about one quarter of people with rheumatoid arthritis develop this disease, which are more likely to develop among elderly men with a history of smoking.

Contents

Rheumatoid lung is separate from but often associated with Interstitial lung disease.

History

Rheumatoid Lung was first described in 1948, when several cases were published of patients with RA who had severe erosive joint disease and also developed an interstitial lung suggesting an association between the inflammatory joint disease and interstitial lung disease.

Signs & Symptoms

Symptoms of rheumatoid lung include, from the most common:

  • Pleural involvement (pleurisy, effusions)
  • Pulmonary parenchymal nodules, more common in men than in women
  • Rheumatoid-associated interstitial lung disease
  • Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia
  • Obliterative bronchiolitis (obstructive lung disease/bronchiectasis)
  • Rheumatoid-associated pulmonary hypertension
  • Pulmonary vasculitis/arteritis
  • Shrinking lung syndrome
  • Miscellaneous: MTX, cricoarytenoid arthritis, infection, cancer
  • References

    Rheumatoid lung disease Wikipedia


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