Interstitial Lung Disease of the UIP Variant as the Only Presenting Symptom of Rheumatoid Arthritis. (7th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Agrawal, Abhinav; Thyagarajan, Braghadheeswar; Ceniza, Sidney; Hasan Yusuf, Syed
• Other Names: Midulla Fabio Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Case reports in pulmonology. Volume 2015(2015)
• Publication Date: 2015-06-07
• Subjects: Lungs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Respiratory organs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Respiratory infections -- Periodicals; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Respiratory Tract Infections; Lungs -- Diseases; Respiratory infections; Respiratory organs -- Diseases; Periodicals; Case Reports; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 616.2
• DOI: 10.1155/2015/205175
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2090-6846

Abstract

Abstract : Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease primarily manifesting with symptoms of joint pain. It also involves multiple organ systems in the body, including the lungs. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most common form of pulmonary involvement in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Without the typical symptoms such as chronic joint pain, establishing the diagnosis of RA could be quite challenging and a high index of suspicion is thereby required to diagnose ILD in patients with RA, thereby delaying treatment and increasing morbidity and mortality. We report a case of a 67-year-old Hispanic male with no previous history of rheumatoid arthritis or symptoms of typical joint pain who comes to the hospital only with the chief complaints of progressive worsening of shortness of breath for a duration of 6 months and was eventually diagnosed with ILD of the usual interstitial pneumonia variant with serologies positive for rheumatoid arthritis.