Isolated acute lupus pneumonitis as the initial presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus in an 8-year-old girl.

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease which has broad pleuropulmonary manifestations. One of the rare and mortal complications is acute lupus pneumonitis, which is reported very rarely, especially in childhood. Herein, we report an 8-year-old girl with isolated acute lupus pneumonitis as the initial presentation that required a lung biopsy for diagnosis. Although she had improvement with the administration of steroids, steroid treatment was reduced due to the drug's side effects resulting in the addition of azathioprine and mycophenolate mofetil to the treatment regimen. After the new regimen failed to result in clinical improvement, hydroxychloroquine treatment was started and a significant improvement was observed. Acute lupus pneumonitis is an uncommon manifestation of SLE and diagnosis may be difficult in patients without other organ involvement.