Cavitary pulmonary nodules in rheumatoid arthritis; case reports and review of the literature

Abstract

Rheumatoid nodules are the most common pulmonary manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)and are usually asymptomatic. In rare cases, they progress cavitary formation and cause severe clinicalsymptoms because of disease activity, infectious diseases, and other etiologies. The determinationof clinical and histopathological features may be helpful for differential diagnosis in patients with RAwith cavitary pulmonary nodules. Herein, we report two female patients with RA with cavitary pul-monary nodules and aim to obtain more detail data by means of reviewing previously reported cases.