Pulmonary Infarctions Due to Bilateral Pulmonary Arterial Thrombosis in a Lupus Patient with Antiphospholipid Syndrome

Excerpt

A 33-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) had serial high titers of IgG isotype anticardiolipin and anti-β₂-glycoprotein I antibodies. She had low-grade fever for 1 week and presented to the Emergency Department with acute left chest pain. Initial chest radiograph showed a patchy infiltration over the peripheral left lower lung field, and empiric antibiotics were administered under suspicion of pneumonia. However, a new patch soon developed over the right lower peripheral lung field, with accompanying right chest pain. She was transferred to the intensive care unit, where contrast medium-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) disclosed filling defects within bilateral inferior…