Acute lung involvement in RA is not always ILD

ABSTRACT

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic inflammatory disorder with diverse extra-articular manifestations including vasculitis,lung disease, inflammatory eye disease and subcutaneous nodule formation. Among these manifestations, lung diseasehas been identified as a primary contributor of morbidity and mortality. The predominance of non-specific interstitialpneumonia pattern has been observed in most forms of connective tissue-associated ILD. Studies have demonstratedthat the usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern is more prevalent among patients with RA-associated ILD. The extraarticular manifestations have been noted in nearly 50% of the patients, and the lung involvement in majority of thecases.8, 9 This study details the occurrence of lung involvement of viral etiology in RA, which could be misdiagnosed asRA-associated ILD