Introduction
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that is
characterized with autoantibodies production with on and off clinical
course. It can affect any age or gender, but it has a particular
tendency to affect young females, with a female-to-male ratio of about
9:1 (1).
SLE can affect almost every organ system with a diverse scale of
manifestations. The disease severity can vary from a very mild illness
to a systemic life-threatening illness (2-4). Although manifestations
can affect almost every system in the body, cardiac and lung
manifestations have a significant impact on patients’ everyday life and
outcome. Respiratory affection can affect the lung, pleura or lung
vasculature with various degrees of affection from an asymptomatic
illness to severe respiratory compromise.