Unusual clinical presentation of rheumatoid arthritis

diagnostic challenge

Abstract

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease whose main clinical characteristic is persistent joint inflammation. In its usual presentation, the visceral involvement occurs after the articular one. Pulmonary involvement may appear as a pleural effusion, which is an unusual event as the first manifestation of the disease. In this case report, we present a 52-year-old male patient diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, whose initial manifestation was pleural effusion, demonstrating a diagnostic challenge.