title: Masked early symptoms of pneumonia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis during tocilizumab treatment: a report of two cases.
abstract: Although reports of serious infections in clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with tocilizumab, anti-interleukin6 (IL-6) receptor antibody, have been relatively few, there is still some concern about infections. We report here two cases of patients who developed severe pneumonia during tocilizumab treatment for RA. Both patients initially presented with only minimal clinical symptoms and modest elevations in serum C-reactive protein. Tocilizumab might suppress the early inflammatory symptoms of pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine, Nissay Hospital, and Laboratory of Immune Regulation, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 6-3-8 Itachibori, Nishi-ku, Osaka, 550-0012, Japan. fujiwara135@ybb.ne.jp
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nishimoto
authors.forename: Yoshimasa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hamano
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Asanuma
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.forename: Soji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasayama
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suemura