Rheumatoid arthritis complicated by pachy- and leptomeningeal rheumatoid nodule-like granulomas and systemic vasculitis

Splenic abscesses as a first manifestation of Crohn's disease: a case report

Background

Splenic nodules are uncommon entities that occur rarely in the general population. Although an infectious etiology (primarily bacteria, followed by mycobacteria) is usually found, noninfectious diseases, including malignancies and autoimmune disorders, can also be involved. For instance, in course of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), in particular Crohn’s Disease, aseptic splenic abscesses have been reported in patients with a long history of illness, or in those unresponsive to medical treatments, while are only anecdotally reported in the early phase of the disease. Hence, we presented the case of aseptic splenic nodules as a first manifestation of Crohn’s Disease.

Case presentation

A 21-year-old woman with a silent medical history was admitted to the Emergency Department of our hospital complaining of fever of 38–39 °C (mainly in the evening) for the past 10 days and left flank abdominal pain, accompanied by sweating and fatigue. An abdominal computed tomography showed multiple splenic nodules of unknown origin. Because of the absence of clinical improvement after several antibiotic therapiesand a positron emission tomography (PET) with hypercaptation strictly localized to spleen, she underwent splenectomy, in suspicion of lymphoma. For persistence of symptoms after splenectomy, she underwent many instrumental examination, including a colonoscopy with bowel and intestinal biopsies that poses diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. A second PET confirmed this diagnosis showing this time also the gastrointestinal involvement.

Conclusion

An unusual onset of Crohn’s disease with multiple splenic nodules is reported. This case suggests that in light of splenic nodules of unknown etiology attention should be paid to all possible diagnoses of aseptic abscesses, including IBDs (primarily Crohn’s Disease).

Isolated cerebral vasculitis associated with rheumatoid arthritis

Central nervous system involvement in rheumatoid arthritis is infrequent. Inflammatory lesions described in the literature are limited to rheumatoid nodules and vasculitis. We report on a 71-year-old woman who presented with a 1-month history of headache and dysarthria, and who had suffered seropositive rheumatoid arthritis without extra-articular complications, for 15 years. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a high-intensity image in FLAIR-weighted sequences in the right cerebral hemisphere, with meningeal gadolinium enhancement. A brain biopsy revealed necrotizing and lymphocytic vasculitis in the meninges as well as cerebral parenchyma. The patient received treatment with high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone with radiological improvement at 6-month follow-up. She remained neurologically asymptomatic in subsequent years. Three years after the onset of neurological symptoms, she was admitted to the hospital with choluria and jaundice. On the fiftieth day of hospitalization, she died from bronchopneumonia. The autopsy showed no signs of vasculitis. Cerebral vasculitis is an infrequent complication in RA. High-doses of intravenous corticosteroids may be an effective treatment.

Rheumatoid leptomeningitis: magnetic resonance imaging and pathologic findings--a case report

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory multisystem disease with articular and extra-articular manifestations. Intracranial manifestations of RA are rare. Purpose of this article is to report on a rarely described leptomeningeal involvement in RA, and on its neuroimaging features, including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI).

METHODS

The authors describe the case of a 74-year-old woman with a 5-year history of RA presenting with progressive left-side weakness and hypoesthesia. The patient underwent laboratory investigation and brain contrast-enhanced MRI, also with DWI, before undergoing brain biopsy.

RESULTS

Neuroimaging revealed abnormal high T2-signal in right frontal and parietal lobes, restricted diffusion in the subarachnoid space, and diffuse thick linear leptomeningeal contrast-enhancement. These findings were interpreted as rheumatoid leptomeningitis, and brain biopsy confirmed this diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, rheumatoid meningitis is a rare neurological complication of RA, but it should be considered in the proper clinical setting when patient presentation and laboratory results fail to support the other differential diagnostic possibilities proposed by the MR imaging findings.

An unusual central nervous system involvement in rheumatoid arthritis: combination of pachymeningitis and cerebral vasculitis

Severe primary central nervous system (CNS) involvement such as vasculitis and pachymeningitis can rarely occur in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) even in the absence of systemic disease activation. The authors illustrate a female patient with well-controlled RA who presented with headaches, encephalopathy, seizures and relapsing focal neurological deficits. Primary rheumatoid cerebral vasculitis and pachymeningitis were diagnosed based on suggestive brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, MR angiography, cerebrospinal fluid analysis and cerebral angiography. MR showed abnormal leptomeningeal enhancement and hyperintense FLAIR signal in the cortical subarachnoid spaces consistent with pachymeningitis. Cerebral angiography findings were consistent with vasculitis. Aggressive treatment resulted in significant clinicoradiological resolution. Cerebral vasculitis is a rare but certain manifestation of RA. This complication can be diagnosed in the presence of suggestive angiographic and CSF findings. The condition may be steroid resistant, and needs to be treated more aggressively.

Leptomeningeal metastases

LM is an increasingly common neurologic complication of cancer with variable clinical manifestations. Although there are no curative treatments, currently available therapies can preserve neurologic function and potentially improve quality of life. Further research into the mechanisms of leptomeningeal metastasis will elucidate molecular and cellular pathways that may allow identification of potential targets to interrupt this process early or to prevent this complication. Animal models are needed to further define the pathophysiology of LM and to provide an experimental system to test novel treatments [242-245]. There is an urgent need to develop new drug-based or radiation-based treatments for patients with LM. Randomized clinical trials are the appropriate study design to determine the efficacy of new treatments for LM. However, surrogate markers for response must be developed to facilitate the identification of effective regimens. Survival is not the optimal end point for such studies as most patients who develop this complication already have advanced, incurable cancer. Prevention of or delay in neurologic progression is one objective that has been utilized in recent randomized trials in patients with LM, and this end point deserves further attention. Although the development of LM represents a poor prognostic marker in patients with cancer it is important for physicians to recognize the symptoms and signs of the disease and establish the diagnosis as early in the disease course as possible. This may provide an opportunity for effective intervention that can improve quality of life, prevent further neurologic deterioration and, for a subset of patients, improve survival.