The development of pulmonary aspergillosis and pneumothorax in a patient with neutropenic systemic lupus erythematosus and successful treatment of the first case.

There are reports on patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with aspergillosis; however, aspergillosis-related pneumothorax has not been reported in SLE. We present a female patient with active SLE who was administered high-dose steroids, developed an opportunistic bacterial infection and had a cavitary pulmonary lesion. Sputum cultures yielded Aspergillus fumigatus. She was administered voriconazole. She developed dyspnoea and chest X-ray showed pneumothorax. She was placed with an underwater drainage chest tube; the pneumothorax and the pulmonary lesion regressed. 2014 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.