A 50-Year-Old Woman With Limited Scleroderma Presenting With Shortness of Breath

A 50-year-old woman with a medical history significant for limited scleroderma (SSc) complicated by interstitial lung disease (ILD) and pulmonary arterial hypertension presented to our institution with acute on chronic shortness of breath. Ten years before presentation, she was diagnosed with SSc. Two years before presentation, she was found to have ILD, for which she was started on mycophenolate mofetil and low-dose prednisone. One year before presentation, she noted worsening dyspnea on exertion (New York Heart Association Functional Class III) and required supplemental oxygen, up to 5 L, despite findings of stable ILD on a maintenance dose of mycophenolate mofetil. A subsequent right heart catheterization showed findings consistent with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension: right atrial pressure of 19 mm Hg, pulmonary arterial pressure of 98/39 mm Hg with a mean pulmonary arterial pressure of 58 mm Hg, right ventricular pressure of 59/6 mm Hg, pulmonary arterial wedge pressure of 10 mm Hg, cardiac output of 4.2 L/min with a cardiac index of 2.7 L/min/m², and a calculated pulmonary vascular resistance of 11.43 Wood units. She had no significant vasoreactivity on inhaled nitric oxide challenge. She was started on IV treprostinil that had been up-titrated over the course of 6 months before presentation. On admission, she denied any cough, fevers, chills, chest pains, palpitations, or lower extremity edema. She denied any sick contacts or any recent travel. She denied any periods of prolonged immobility.