Question

Your patient is a married 47 year old white female homemaker with 2 children and an 18 year history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). She has no known allergies. The pt takes an occasional naproxen for joint pain and antacid for heartburn but no other prescription or OTC (over the counter) medication. She neither smokes nor drinks alcohol (ETOH). Except for lupus, the patient's medical history is unremarkable. She is 5 feet 5 inches in height and weighs 102 pounds which is a decrease in weight of 23 pounds since her last physical examination nearly a year ago. She has had several small patches of hair loss on her head and her joints often hurt. Her ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) is elevated at 70. She has a red rash on the sun exposed parts of her skin that looks like a vasculitis. She has 4 brothers and 3 sisters. An older sister has rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and an aunt with pernicious anemia and her deceased mother had Graves disease.Five years ago, A.B. presented again to her PCP, this time complaining of a productive cough and stiffness and pain in her hands and feet that seemed to come and go and to affect different joints (migratory polyarthritis). She is afraid that she is developing rheumatoid arthritis like her older sister.

Her BP at the time was 140/90, HR 105, and she had a temperature of 100?F. Auscultation of the lungs revealed abnormal lungs sounds, suggesting that she had bronchitis. A chest x-ray revealed mild pulmonary edema but no white blood cell infiltrated in the terminal airways. The PCP was concerned about susceptibility for developing pneumonia. Axillary and inguinal lymph nodes were slightly enlarged.

Why might the PCP be concerned about the possibility for pneumonia?

Answer 1

Pneumonia is a condition of pulmonary inflammation, which mainly affects the alveoli. The causes of pneumonia may vary from person to person because many of the microbes such as bacteria and viruses, some of the drugs, and genetic inheritance can cause pneumonia. The symptoms of pneumonia include the chest pain, difficulty in breathing, cough with phlegm and fever.

SLE is an autoimmune disorder and the affected individuals are at increased risk of developing infections. In the given case, the patient's symptoms are indicating arthritis, but the PCP was also concerned about the possibility of pneumonia because the patient's lymph nodes are slightly enlarged and X-ray revealed pulmonary edema, which possibly indicates microbial infection (pneumonia).