Dr Romi Singla - Department Of Pulmonary Medicine GMC, Patiala

CAPLAN’S SYNDROME:
� Welsh coal miners 1953
� Discrete nodules
� Upper lobes
� Histologically identical to Necrobiotic nodule
� Peripheral, well-defined, solitary or multiple
nodules often appear rapidly in crops at times of
increased rheumatoid arthritis activity and are
often associated with new subcutaneous nodules.
� Biopsy reveals inorganic dust within the necrotic
nodule.
� The nodules are asymptomatic and do not require
treatment unless a complication develops
following rupture of a cavitating lesion into the
pleural space.
� Higher incidence with underlying pneumoconiosis,
CWP, Silicosis, Asbestosis