Rare and Unusual Connective Tissue Diseases in the Lung

Abstract

Many rare systemic diseases present with pulmonary and rheumatological manifestations. These diseases span the spectrum between rare connective tissue diseases with pulmonary manifestations (e.g., relapsing polychondritis) to rare pulmonary diseases with connective tissue manifestations (e.g., cystic fibrosis and sarcoidosis). This article will review the pulmonary and rheumatological manifestations of these disorders.

Key Words:

ankylosing spondylitis - relapsing polychondritis - fibromyalgia - psoriatic arthritis - Reiter's syndrome - rheumatic fever - Sweet's syndrome - inflammatory bowel disease - cystic fibrosis - Weber-Christian disease