Cavitary Necrobiotic Nodule Imitating Malignant Lung Disease in a Patient Without Articular Manifestations of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Formation of multiple pulmonary nodules during treatment with leflunomide

Pulmonary involvement is one of the extra-articular manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis and can be due to the disease itself or secondary to the medications used in order to treat it. We report the case of a 60-year-old woman who had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and developed multiple pulmonary nodules during treatment with leflunomide.

A rheumatoid nodule in an unusual location: mediastinal lymph node

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multisystem inflammatory disease characterised by destructive synovitis and varied extra-articular involvement. Rheumatoid lung nodules are the most common pulmonary manifestations of RA. Rheumatoid nodules in mediastinal lymph nodes are extremely uncommon. We describe a male patient with long-standing RA and subcutaneous rheumatoid nodules presenting with multiple lung nodules and mediastinal lymphadenopathies. Definite histopathology of a lymph node was consistent with necrobiotic granuloma due to RA. Clinicians should be aware of rheumatoid nodules as a potential cause of mediastinal lymphadenopathies, mainly in advanced rheumatoid arthritis.