A Fatal Case of Anti-PL-7 Antibody-Associated Rapidly Progressive Interstitial Lung Disease Complicated by Tuberculosis: A Case Report.

The anti-PL-7 antibody is an anti-aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase antibody. Patients who test positive for anti-PL-7 antibodies present with various clinical symptoms, including myositis, polyarthritis, and interstitial lung disease (ILD). The anti-PL-7 antibody also causes rapidly progressive ILD (RP-ILD), which may be fatal. In this report, we present the case of a 92-year-old woman with anti-PL-7 antibody-positive RP-ILD, complicated by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Treatment for anti-PL-7 antibody-positive RP-ILD typically requires combination therapy with corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents; however, we were unable to escalate immunosuppression due to concomitant M. tuberculosis infection, and the patient died due to respiratory failure. To our knowledge, this is the first report to present the progression of chest computed tomography findings and clinical course of anti-PL-7 antibody-positive RP-ILD complicated by pulmonary tuberculosis. Anti-PL-7 antibody-positive RP-ILD complicated by pulmonary tuberculosis can be fatal. Therefore, clinicians should closely monitor for pulmonary tuberculosis in anti-PL-7 antibody-positive ILD and provide preventive treatment when appropriate.