LUNG LESIONS IN JUVENILE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Lung damage usually develops against the background of a long course of rheumatoid arthritis, when manifestations of polyserositis develop: pleuritis, pericarditis, which have a favourable prognosis in most cases. In some cases, patients have changes characteristic of interstitial pneumonia (pneumonitis): dyspnoea, intrusive cough, at first dry and then moist, an abundance of fine bubbling and crepitating wheezes. Autoimmune mechanisms play a major role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary involvement in rheumatoid arthritis. In response to nonspecific antigenic influence there is activation of immunocompetent cells of pulmonary interstitium.