Fatal pulmonary hypertension and rheumatoid vasculitis.

A 51 year old man with mild rheumatoid arthritis developed pulmonary hypertension in the absence of interstitial lung disease. A cutaneous vasculitis subsequently responded to immunosuppressive therapy, but the lung disease was refractory to treatment. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, dyspnoea should be investigated at an early stage, even in the absence of obvious pleural or interstitial lung disease.