Lupus Site - a guide for lupus patients and their families

It is a chronic form of lupus pneumonitis, & is rare in lupus.

The symptoms are a chronic non-productive cough, which comes on slowly, pleuritis-like chest pains, & difficulty breathing during exercise.

Infection needs to be ruled out as a cause. A bronchoscopy and/or a lung biopsy are usually needed to determine the cause.

Chronic lupus pneumonitis causes scarring in the lung, which decreases the ability of the lungs to deliver oxygen to the blood. Breathing function tests are used to follow the activity of the disease.

It is usually treated with steroids. The course of the disease varies, some patients improve, deteriorate or stabilise.