Interstitial lung disease: are we missing formes frustes of connective tissue disease?

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Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis may be responsible for a broad spectrum of manifestations, including: pleural effusion; chronic interstitial pneumonia; lung rheumatoid nodules; bronchiectasis; obstructive ventilatory defect due to constrictive bronchiolitis; laryngeal involvement; and opportunistic infections, such as mycobacterial infections facilitated by anti-tumour necrosis factor-α treatments. Systemic sclerosis may be commonly associated with chronic interstitial pneumonia (especially in patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis and anti-topoisomerase-1 antibodies), or pulmonary arterial hypertension (most frequently, but not exclusively, in patients with limited systemic sclerosis with anti-centromere antibodies), with both contributing to the unfavourable prognosis of the disease 3.