Pulmonary Lesions in Collagen Disease

Collagen disease is a group of systemic disorders involving vasculature and connective tissues. Individual collagen diseases include rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic sclerosis (SSc), polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM), mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD), polyarteritis nodosa (PN), and Sjogren syndrome (SjS). Since the lung contains numerous blood vessels, this organ develops lesions at a high frequency. A variety of pulmonary lesions may be seen in collagen disease; these lesions can be characterized to some extent according to the type of disease. Choice of therapy depends on the specific pathologic condition, which must be evaluated in detail before therapy. The understanding and treatment of pulmonary lesions are important for the prognosis and quality of life in patients with collagen disease.