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Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia and rheumatoid arthritis

1991; European Respiratory Society; Volume: 4; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1183/09031936.93.04070905

1399-3003

R J van Thiel, Sjoerd van der Burg, A D Groote, G D Nossent, S H Wills,

Viral Infections and Immunology Research

Bronchiolitis obliterans, with or without organizing pneumonia, can be a serious and life-threatening complication of rheumatoid arthritis. We describe a case of bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia in a patient who recently developed rheumatoid arthritis, presenting as a severe respiratory insufficiency. Diagnosis was made by means of open lung biopsy. Treatment with corticosteroids induced a quick response and substantial improvement of the respiratory symptoms. A simultaneous strong rise in titres of serological tests suggests a relationship between the bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia and the rheumatoid arthritis.