A Case of Successful Treatment of Pulmonary Alveolar Hemorrhage with Plasmapheresis in Child with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

ABSTRACT

Pulmonary hemorrhage is a rare but possibly fatal complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We report a case of massive pulmonary hemorrhage in a 14-year-old boy recently diagnosed as SLE. He developed massive pulmonary hemorrhage during the courses of i.v. methylprednisolone pulse therapy, and did not respond to i.v. cyclophosphamide. However, he rapidly improved through the use of plasmapheresis. Although various factors can precipitate pulmonary hemorrhage in SLE, our case was probably caused by an immune mediated mechanism since the hemorrhage responded promptly to plasmapheresis. This case illustrates the importance of plasmapheresis in the treatment of pulmonary hemorrhage which is not improved by methylprednisolone and cyclophosphamide. We report this case with a brief review of the related literatures.