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Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Bronchial Thermoplasty: A Novel Therapeutic Approach to Severe Asthma
Published on: November 4, 2010
[Rheumatoid arthritis-associated bronchiolitis successfully treated with erythromycin]
S Matsui1, N Yamashita, M Narukawa
1First Department of Internal Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Faculty of Medicine, Japan.
Abstract:
A 52-year-old man with a 4-year history of rheumatoid arthritis, and who had an episode of suspected BOOP in early 1994, was admitted to our hospital because of cough and fever. A chest X-ray film on admission showed small patchy infiltrates, and a computed tomographic (CT) scan showed centrilobular nodules and patchy infiltrates with thickened broncho-vascular bundles in both lungs. Transbronchial and thoracoscopic lung biopsies disclosed the coexistence of interstitial pneumonia with BOOP pattern, follicular bronchiolitis, and diffuse panbronchiolitis-like purulent and obliterative bronchiolitis. Due to findings of chronic sinusitis, the patient was treated with erythromycin for 8 weeks, and the abnormal CT shadows regressed. This was an interesting case of various pulmonary lesions associated with rheumatoid arthritis, and successfully treated with erythromycin.
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