Development of bronchiectasis during long-term rituximab treatment for rheumatoid arthritis

Adv Respir Med. 2018 Dec 30. doi: 10.5603/ARM.a2018.0050. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Here the cases of three female patients who received long-term rituximab treatment for seropositive, erosive and deforming rheumatoid arthritis was reported. After rituximab treatment, they presented with recurrent sinusitis and pneumonia, followed by the subsequent development of bronchiectasis. A temporal relationship between rituximab treatment and the onset of respiratory complications was exposed as a possible pathogenic mechanism.

Keywords: bronchiectasis; rheumatoid arthritis; rituximab; sinusitis.