Article Text
Summary
We present a case of a 57-year-old woman who contracted Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia while on Benepali, the biosimilar version of etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis. She had seropositive erosive disease. She was admitted to clinic with a 2-week history of dyspnoea, dry cough and fever. Her initial examination showed her to be hypoxic on air with saturations of 77% and left basal crackles. Her admission chest X-ray showed fine reticular shadowing, with an initial suspicion of pulmonary fibrosis. She was empirically treated for community-acquired pneumonia but continued to deteriorate with a worsening type 1 respiratory failure. She was intubated and ventilated on intensive care. The suspicion was raised of P. jiroveci pneumonia given her immunosuppression, hypoxic presentation and chest X-ray changes. This was confirmed on sputum PCR. She was treated with a 3-week course of steroids and co-trimoxazole. She was discharged home after a 2-week admission.
- infections
- biological agents
- drugs: musculoskeletal and joint diseases
- rheumatoid arthritis
- musculoskeletal and joint disorders
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Footnotes
Contributors AME was involved in the conception of the article, the drafting and the final approval. KFG was involved in the drafting the content and acquisition of data. Both authors agree to be accountable for the content.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.