Pulmonary manifestations of collagen diseases.

Collagen diseases are a large group of systemic inflammatory diseases of autoimmune etiology. The etiopathogenesis of collagen diseases is multifactorial. There is genetic susceptibility, as many connective tissue disorders show family history, and environmental factors may trigger the disease. Collagen diseases can affect almost all the organs of the body. The respiratory system is one of the most frequently affected, although the prevalence of pulmonary disease is not precisely known for the different collagen disorders. Any structure of the respiratory tract can be affected, but perhaps the most frequent is pulmonary parenchymal disease in the form of pneumonitis, which can be produced in any of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis patterns. The pleura, pulmonary vessels, airways and respiratory muscles may also be affected. The frequency of lung disease associated with collagen diseases is on the rise. This due in part to the better diagnostic methods that are available to us today (such as high-resolution computed tomography) and also to the appearance of new forms of pneumonitis associated with the new treatments that are currently used. The objective of this article is to offer a global vision of how collagen diseases can affect the lungs according to the latest scientific evidence.

[Caplan's syndrome: case report]. / Przypadek zespolu Caplana.

A case of a 56-years old male with rheumatoid arthritis and unclear tumoral radiological changes in the lungs was described. Since noninvasive diagnostic procedures failed to explain nature of the pulmonary changes, an open pulmonary biopsy was performed. Pathological examination revealed presence of rheumatoid nodules and pneumoconiosis, typical for Caplan's syndrome. In the past, the patient had been working in foundry industry for 16 years and he had been exposed to silica and iron dust. Articular symptoms were revealed prior to finding the lung changes even dust exposure had occurred many years earlier. In spite of the fact that rheumatoid arthritis is a relatively common disease and pneumoconiosis is also not rare entity, the coexistence of both conditions i.e. Caplan's syndrome has been rarely diagnosed and described.

[Changes in the respiratory system of patients with rheumatoid arthritis]. / Zmiany w ukladzie oddechowym u chorych na reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów.

Rheumatoid changes in the lungs are seen in 30% of cases of rheumatoid arthritis. Three cases with different patterns of pulmonary involvement in the course of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are presented. In all cases pleural involvement was seen, in two subjects since the beginning, in the remaining in the course of developing interstitial lung disease. In two cases the dominant changes in the respiratory system were interstitial pneumonitis. In one case the interstitial pneumonitis took a fulminating course, being resistant to treatment with prednisone, endoxan, penicillamine. In the third case, the interstitial pneumonitis was of chronic character, despite the fact that the subject did not receive any treatment, it did not progress. In the first case the main features were pulmonary cavities. The could have evolved from necrosis of rheumatoid nodules or vessel changes.

Rheumatoid pneumoconiosis in a dolomite worker: a light and electron microscopic, and X-ray microanalytical study.

A 46-year-old woman suffering from rheumatoid arthritis developed numerous round opacities at the apex of the right lung 11 years after an exposure to dolomite . Resected lung showed discrete nodules, 0.8-2 cm in diameter, with central necrosis surrounded by palisading fibroblasts and a prominent inflammatory zone. A large number of birefringent dust particles were seen in the necrotic centres and around the nodules. By electron microscopy the particles were dense, mostly elongated and lamellar, varying from 0.005 to 3 microns in width, and from 0.1 to 6.5 microns in length. Energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis of the dust particles gave elemental spectra with high spikes of silicon, aluminium and potassium, and minimal magnesium, calcium, iron and titanium. According to chemical analysis, the original dolomite consisted almost entirely of magnesium and calcium carbonates and only of traces of silicon, aluminium and potassium. Apparently the human organism can better eliminate calcium and magnesium carbonates than silicon, aluminium and potassium.

[Pleural and pulmonary changes within the scope of rheumatoid arthritis]. / Pleurale und pulmonale Veränderungen im Rahmen der rheumatoiden Arthritis.

Pulmonary complications caused by rheumatoid arthritis are a clinically relevant aspect of this chronic arthropathy. Those complications can involve all parts of the thorax, including the lung parenchyma, the pleura, and the thoracic cage. The most common complications are necrobiotic nodules, pleural abnormalities, Caplan's syndrome, parenchymal fibrosis, bronchiolitis obliterans, and iatrogenic damage of lung the parenchyma. This article reviews pulmonary abnormalities induced by rheumatoid arthritis and their clinical and radiological findings. In addition, the role of different imaging modalities in the diagnostic work-up of pulmonary complications caused by rheumatoid arthritis is discussed.

[Lung and pleural involvement in collagen disease (author's transl)]. / Lungen- und Pleurabefall bei Kollagenosen

Frequency and type of pulmonary and pleural involvement in collagen disease (rheumatoid arthritis, progressive systemic scleroderma, polymyositis-dermatomyositis and lupus erythematodes are analysed on the basis of literature and of own cases with particular regard to the roentgenographic appearance.