Other Pleuropulmonary Complications of Connective Tissue Diseases

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A. 

The connective tissue diseases (CTDs) by definition involve multiple organs of the body. Similarly, these CTD may involve multiple anatomic areas of the lungs and extrapulmonary thorax, which can influence the course of disease. Although interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most common manifestation of most of the CTD, a separate chapter is focused on the pathology, treatment, and clinical outcome of the many ILD presentations. Dr. Nunes and colleagues reviewed the pleural and non-ILD pulmonary manifestations of the CTD in chapter 19. 

The most common CTD throughout the world is rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Thoracic manifestations of RA are numerous (Table 1) including forms of ILD. The thoracic disease manifestations independent of ILD include pleural effusions, bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) without an organizing pneumonia, rheumatoid nodules, upper airway obstruction, and acute rheumatoid pneumonitis. 

Parenchymal pulmonary disease Interstitial lung disease Usual interstitial pneumonia Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia 

Diffuse alveolar damage (Acute respiratory distress s3mdrome) Organizing pneumonia Lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia Apical fibrobullous disease Nodules 

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