We report the case of a patient with Behçet’s disease who presented with deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. In spite of being treated initially with anticoagulants, corticosteroid and oral cyclophosphamide, the patient presented again with a new pulmonary embolism. This critical situation made us initiate thrombolytic therapy with a urokinase ‘bolus’ followed by continuous infusion through a catheter into the pulmonary artery. Treatment response was good and 2 years later there was no evidence of new thrombotic episodes.

No abstract

The association of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with amyloidosis is exceptional. We present a 37-year-old patient who was diagnosed five months earlier for SLE. She developed an acute episode of chest pain, cough and dyspnoea. Hypoxemia and obstructive changes in respiratory tests were present. The chest X-ray was repeatedly normal. Open lung biopsy revealed lupus pneumonitis with positive stain for immunoglobulins and complement, bronchiolitis obliterans, and pulmonary amyloidosis.

No abstract

Our results suggest that rituximab may improve the long-term lipid profile of patients with SLE refractory to standard treatment, mainly by reducing inflammatory activity.