A Case of Q Fever that may Mimic Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Han Min Lee; Sang Il Mo; Hyun Wook Cho; Su Jin Lee; Baek Gyu Jun; Ki Won Kim; Jae Yun Kim; Young Il Kim; Seong-Su Nah

doi:10.4078/jrd.2013.20.1.40

Journal List > J Rheum Dis > v.20(1) > 1064087

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Lee, Mo, Cho, Lee, Jun, Kim, Kim, Kim, and Nah: A Case of Q Fever that may Mimic Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Case Report

J Rheum Dis 2013;20(1):40-43.

Published online: 31 February 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4078/jrd.2013.20.1.40

A Case of Q Fever that may Mimic Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Han Min Lee, Sang Il Mo, Hyun Wook Cho, Su Jin Lee, Baek Gyu Jun, Ki Won Kim, Jae Yun Kim, Young Il Kim, Seong-Su Nah

Department of Internal Medicine, Cheonan Hospital, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea

Corresponding to : Seong-Su Nah, Department of Internal Medicine, Cheonan Hospital, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, 23-30, Bognmyeong-dong, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan 330-721, Korea. E-mail : bahai@schmc.ac.kr

Received 12 October 201116 March 2012 Accepted 20 March 2012

This is a Free Access article, which permits unrestricted non-commerical use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Q fever is a zoonosis caused by a Coxiella burnetii. Q fever is clinically variable, presenting as asymptomatic infection, pneumonia, hepatitis and endocarditis. Treatment of acute Q fever with doxycycline is usually successful. Autoantibodies, such as anti-mitochondrial antibodies, smooth muscle antibodies (SMA), anti-cardiolipin and lupus anti-coagulant, often rise in acute Q fever infection. Some cases may occasionally meet the criteria for autoimmune disease like systemic lupus erythematosus. We report a first case of Q fever that may mimic systemic lupus erythematosus in Korea

Keywords: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Q fever, Coxiella burnetii

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Figure 1.

Chest CT shows bilateral pleural effusion (arrows).

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