Glick Danielle R, Galvin Jeffrey R, Deepak Janaki
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Respir Med Case Rep. 2020 Nov 6;31:101283. doi: 10.1016/j.rmcr.2020.101283. eCollection 2020.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease most well-known for its inflammatory, destructive polyarthropathy. Extraarticular manifestations of the disease may involve the respiratory system, including interstitial lung disease, pleural disease, pulmonary vascular abnormalities, and airways disease. Smoking is highly prevalent in the RA population, and may even have a synergistic effect in disease development and progression. In the diagnosis of pulmonary disease, this presents a unique diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. We present a case of a woman in her 50s who presented for evaluation of dyspnea and was found to have obstructive lung disease. In addition to RA, she had a significant smoking history and also owned pet birds, making definitive diagnosis difficult. Ultimately, chest imaging was crucial in identifying RA-related lung disease as the root cause of her symptoms, leading to successful treatment and symptom management.
类风湿关节炎（RA）是一种常见的自身免疫性疾病，以其炎症性、破坏性多关节病最为著名。该疾病的关节外表现可能累及呼吸系统，包括间质性肺疾病、胸膜疾病、肺血管异常和气道疾病。吸烟在类风湿关节炎患者中非常普遍，甚至可能在疾病的发生和发展中具有协同作用。在肺部疾病的诊断中，这带来了独特的诊断和治疗挑战。我们报告一例50多岁女性患者，因呼吸困难前来评估，被发现患有阻塞性肺疾病。除了类风湿关节炎外，她有大量吸烟史且养宠物鸟，这使得明确诊断困难。最终，胸部影像学对于确定类风湿关节炎相关肺部疾病是其症状的根本原因至关重要，从而实现了成功治疗和症状管理。
