Faculty Collaboration Database

A Triad of Pericarditis, Pericardial Effusion, and Pleural Effusion as the Predominant Presentation of Rheumatoid Arthritis - A Case Report. WMJ 2022 Dec;121(4):e75-e78

Date

01/14/2023

Pubmed ID

36637851

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85146364719 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)

Abstract

We describe a case of a 67-year-old African American man who presented to the emergency department with a sharp, pleuritic chest pain and shortness of breath. After several admissions and extensive workup, he ultimately was diagnosed with a persistent pleural effusion, pericardial effusion, and secondary constrictive pericarditis due to rheumatoid arthritis. By highlighting immunological disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis in the differential diagnosis, in the setting of a refractory pericardial effusion and serositis, this case report addresses key aspects of the presentation both in the emergency and inpatient settings, reviews the criteria for a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, and emphasizes areas of importance in predominantly cardiopulmonary extra-articular manifestations of a typically musculoskeletal disease.

Author List

Devine A, Aljadah M, Weiner R, Nemesh I, Mohananey D

Author

Divyanshu Mohananey MD Assistant Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Aged
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
Humans
Male
Pericardial Effusion
Pericarditis
Pericarditis, Constrictive
Pleural Effusion