Lupus lung.
The morphologic findings from 18 autopsy lungs of systemic lupus erythematosus were studied. Each case revealed varying degrees of pleuropulmonary disease. A universal feature was visceral pleural thickening, while findings present in more than one half of the cases included pulmonary congestion (17/18) and edema (15/18), pleural adhesions (11/18) and pleural effusions (10/18) and intraalveolar hemorrhage (10/18). Also seen were bronchopneumonia (9/18), interstitial fibrosis (6/18), cytomegalovirus infection (3/18), interstitial pneumonitis (2/18), hyaline membranes (2/18), and acute vasculitis (1/18) and pleuritis (1/18). These results, together with those of previously reported studies of lupus lung, establish that although certain characteristic pleuropulmonary disease processes are frequently found at autopsy, none is a highly specific marker for the disease.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010994:Pleura / Q000473:pathology; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000473:pathology; D000267:Tissue Adhesions / Q000473:pathology