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Thymic enlargement in a patient with juvenile idiopathic arthritis during etanercept therapy

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Abstract

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha inhibitors are effective in the treatment of inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Despite their effectiveness, anti-TNF drugs have some drawbacks such as severe adverse effects including infections and possibly lymphoproliferative disorders. In this report we described a case of juvenile idiopathic arthritis patient who developed thymic enlargement (true thymic hyperplasia), mediastinal lymphadenopathy and pleurisy associated with systemic symptoms under Etanercept treatment. The clinical presentation was highly suggestive of malignancy and the patient underwent diagnostic mediastinoscopy with biopsy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Dokuz Eylul University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey

    Ismail Sari, Omer Binicier, Merih Birlik, Servet Akar, Fatos Onen & Nurullah Akkoc

  2. Department of Radiology, Dokuz Eylul University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey

    Erkan Yilmaz

  3. Department of Pathology, Dokuz Eylul University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey

    Aydanur Kargi

  4. Dokuz Eylul Universitesi Tip Fakultesi Ic hastaliklari ABD Immunoloji-Romatoloji, Inciralti, 35340, Izmir, Turkey

    Nurullah Akkoc

Authors
  1. Ismail Sari
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  2. Omer Binicier
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  3. Merih Birlik
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  4. Servet Akar
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  5. Erkan Yilmaz
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  6. Aydanur Kargi
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  7. Fatos Onen
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  8. Nurullah Akkoc
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nurullah Akkoc.

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Sari, I., Binicier, O., Birlik, M. et al. Thymic enlargement in a patient with juvenile idiopathic arthritis during etanercept therapy. Rheumatol Int 29, 591–593 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-008-0726-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-008-0726-1

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