Caplan syndrome, also known as rheumatoid pneumoconiosis, is the combination of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis and a characteristic pattern of fibrosis.
Although first described in coal miners (coal workers' pneumoconiosis), it has subsequently been found in patients with a variety of pneumoconioses 2.
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Epidemiology
Affects 2-6% of patients with pneumoconiosis (in Wales) 4 and is caused by disintegrating macrophages leaving a necrotic core with a surrounding pigmented (black) dust ring and fibroblasts 4-5.
Radiographic features
- 5-50 mm well-defined nodules in the upper lung lobes/lung periphery
- nodules may remain unchanged, multiply, calcify, or become thick walled cavities
- background changes of pneumoconiosis
- may have an accompanying pleural effusion
- features often grow in short bursts
History and etymology
It was first described by A Caplan in 1953 1.
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