Pulmonary nodules and rheumatoid factor in the absence of arthritis

Bilateral pulmonary parenchymal nodules were detected in a 41-year-old woman in 1964. These lesions gradually enlarged over a ten-year period. In 1974, the diagnosis of rheumatoid pulmonary disease was based on her clinical course, the presence of rheumatoid factor in the serum, interpretation of a biopsy of a cutaneous nodule, and review of a lung biopsy performed in 1964. The patient never developed arthritis.