Progressive respiratory distress in a 42-year-old HIV-positive woman with systemic lupus erythematosus

ConclusionsOur case represents a situation where two diseases with antagonizing pathways of disease pathogenesis occur concurrently in the same patient. SLE is usually not among the differential diagnoses in HIV patients with respiratory distress. Management of patients with both SLE and HIV is also very challenging because improvement in one condition can lead to worsening of the other. Despite opportunistic infections being the likely cause of pulmonary symptoms in HIV patients, clinicians are encouraged to have a high index of suspicion for autoimmune interstitial lung disease in these patients.
Source: European Journal of Medical Research - Category: Research Source Type: research