Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0409974 (lupus)
 22,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Four men developed silicosis after sandblasting tombstones for an average of 35 months; 3 of them died an average of 59 months after their first exposure to sandblasting. Lung tissue demonstrated noncaseating granulomas and silicotic nodules involving small arteries and veins in 3 patients and alveolar proteinosis in 2. X-ray energy spectrometry showed primarily elemental silicon in the lung parenchyma. One patient developed lupus erythematosus and another focal glomerulonephritis. Two developed pneumothorax. None had cultural or morphologic evidence of tuberculosis. Pulmonary function studies in all 4 patients revealed a restrictive pattern. Industrial investigations revealed that the patients wore inadequate personal protection equipment and were exposed to 5 times the threshold limit value for respirable silica.
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PMID:Acute silicosis in tombstone sandblasters. 84 57

Neither pneumothorax or mediastinal emphysema are well recognized pulmonary manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We describe a 41-year-old woman with severe lupus pneumonitis complicated by recurrent pneumothoraces and mediastinal emphysema. Other features of SLE were minimal. She died of progressive respiratory failure. Autopsy revealed innumerable blebs in both lungs responsible for the pneumothoraces and mediastinal emphysema. Both pneumothoraces and mediastinal emphysema occurred during a course of corticosteroid therapy. The course of her illness was unaffected by treatments that included high dose corticosteroids, immunosuppressives and plasmapheresis. Better medical treatment for these lupus complications should be sought in addition to surgery.
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PMID:Recurrent pneumothoraces and mediastinal emphysema in systemic lupus erythematosus. 234 34

Twenty-four children (aged 6-15 years, M:F = 1:11) with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), who had respiratory symptoms, were retrospectively reviewed. Chest radiographs obtained from all patients revealed pleural effusion in 13, alveolar infiltration in 9, pericardial effusion and cardiomegaly in 6, interstitial infiltration in 4, hilar adenopathy in 3, lung abscess in 2 and pneumatocele with pneumothorax in 1. Etiologic organisms were identified in 7 cases; (3 cases of nocardia isolated from pleural effusion and sputum, 2 cases of tuberculosis, 1 case with staphylococcus aureus septicemia and 1 case with salmonella septicemia). All except one patient improved with medical treatment. One patient died from pneumonitis. Although pulmonary involvement is increasingly recognized in children with SLE, neither roentgenogram nor clinical findings were specific. The differentiation of pulmonary infiltrates caused by lupus lung disease from pulmonary infection should be carefully evaluated.
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PMID:Pulmonary involvement in childhood systemic lupus erythematosus. 1073 May 34

Pneumothorax is a rare pleuropulmonary manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. We encountered a 37-year-old Japanese woman who had systemic lupus erythematosus complicated by recurrent pneumothorax during treatment for recurrent serositis with glucocorticoid therapy. She was admitted for the third episode of lupus peritonitis in December 2005. Intravenous cyclophoshamide and increased dose of oral prednisolone were administered. In early January 2006, hemoptysis was observed and bronchofiberscopy revealed hemorrhage from the left lower lobe. After intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy and oral cyclosporine therapy were added, pleurisy and pulmonary hemorrhage improved. On February 22nd, she suddenly developed pneumothorax on the right side, followed by pneumothorax on the left side after 2 days. This pneumothorax on the left side did not improve despite chest tube drainage for over one month. She underwent thoracoscopic partial lobectomy of lower lobe of the left lung, and her symptoms improved. Review of the literature identified 10 case reports of systemic lupus erythematosus complicated by pneumothorax. All of the patients including our case had underlying pulmonary lesions, and 9/11 patients had pleurisy. Besides 10/11 patients received glucocorticoid therapy before the occurrence of pneumothorax. Tissue fragility caused by these factors might contribute to the complication of pneumothorax in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
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PMID:Systemic lupus erythematosus complicated by recurrent pneumothorax: Case report and literature review. 2060 38

Rituximab (RTX) is a chimeric anti-CD20 antibody, approved for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who failed anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor therapy. It has been used occasionally for life-threatening autoimmune diseases (AID). We report our center experience in the use of RTX in life-threatening complications or refractory AID. Clinical charts of patients treated with RTX at our center were reviewed, cases treated for life-threatening complications or refractory AID were analyzed. Acute damage to vital organs such as lung, heart, kidney, nervous system with severe functional impairment were defined as life-threatening complications; treatment failure with high-dose corticosteroids, cyclophosphamide, IVIG, plasmapheresis was defined as refractory autoimmune disease. During the years 2003-2009, 117 patients were treated with RTX, most of them for RA. Nine patients (6 females, mean age 51.5 years, mean disease duration 6.3 years) answered the criteria. The indications were as follows: pulmonary hemorrhage (1 patient with cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, 1 with systemic sclerosis, 1 with ANCA-associated vasculitis), catastrophic anti-phospholipid syndrome (2 SLE patients), non-bacterial endocarditis and pulmonary hypertension (1 patient with mixed connective tissue disease), vasculitis and feet necrosis (1 patient with systemic lupus erythematosus), severe lupus demyelinative neuropathy and acute renal failure (1 patient), and severe rheumatoid lung disease with recurrent empyema and pneumothorax (1 patient). B cell depletion was achieved in all patients. The median time since starting of complications to RTX administration was 3 weeks (range 2-15 weeks). Complete remission (suppression of the hazardous situation and return to previous stable state) was seen in 7 out of 9 patients. Partial remission (significant improvement) was achieved in the remained. The median time to response was 3 weeks (range 1-8 weeks), mean follow-up 47.2 months (range 6-60 months). A rapid tapering off of steroids was achieved in all patients. Two patients relapsed and were successfully retreated with RTX: the patient with severe RA lung relapsed after 3 years, one of the patients with ANCA-associated pulmonary alveolar hemorrhage relapsed after 10 months. There were no side effects during RTX infusion. Two episodes of serious infections were registered: fatal Gram-negative sepsis 6 months after RTX treatment, and septic discitis 4 months after receiving RTX. RTX serves as a safe, efficient, and prompt rescue therapy in certain life-threatening conditions and resistant to aggressive immunosuppression AID. RTX when administrated at an earlier stage, prevented irreversible vital organ damage, and allowed rapid steroid tapering off in already severe immunodepressed patients.
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PMID:Rituximab: rescue therapy in life-threatening complications or refractory autoimmune diseases: a single center experience. 2323 37