Pulmonary Nodules as an Extra-Intestinal Manifestation of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Case Series and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) exhibits a wide spectrum of pulmonary manifestations [1]. Pulmonary nodules, however, are an uncommon extra-intestinal manifestation (EIM) of IBD with only a few cases documented in the literature (Table 1). A review of the case reports reveal that the pulmonary nodules linked to IBD exhibit a variety of histological patterns. The pulmonary nodules and respiratory symptoms relating to the lung pathology respond favorably to systemic or oral corticosteroid therapy and all patients show resolution or substantial improvement of pulmonary nodules on follow-up radiographs (Table 1). We present a case series of three patients who presented with pulmonary nodules as an EIM of IBD. The English-language literature is reviewed and we will highlight the clinical as well as histological importance of pulmonary nodules in IBD.