title: Intra-thoracic rheumatoid arthritis: Imaging spectrum of typical findings and treatment related complications.
abstract: Non-cardiac thoracic manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) cause significant morbidity and mortality among RA patients. Essentially all anatomic compartments in the chest can be affected including the pleura, pulmonary parenchyma, airway, and vasculature. In addition, treatment-related complications and opportunistic infections are not uncommon. Accurate diagnosis of intra-thoracic disease in an RA patient can be difficult as the radiologic findings may be nonspecific and many of these conditions may coexist. This review article serves to highlight the multitude of RA-related intra-thoracic pathological processes, emphasize differential diagnosis, diagnostic conundrums and discuss how tailoring of CT imaging and image-guided biopsy plays a key role in the management of RA-related pulmonary disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: tchansakul1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Thanissara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chansakul
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: pdellaripa@partners.org.
authors.forename: Paul F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Dellaripa
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: tjdoyle@partners.org.
authors.forename: Tracy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: rmadan@partners.org.
authors.forename: Rachna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Madan
mesh_terms: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D061705:Image-Guided Biopsy / Q000379:methods; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000209:etiology; D010995:Pleural Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents
keywords: Drug toxicity; Interstitial lung disease; Pleural disease; Rheumatoid arthritis; Rheumatoid nodule