Crohn’s disease with pulmonary granuloma in a child: a case report and review of the literature

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic granulomatous disease that affects the gastrointestinal system. Additionally, CD has multiple extraintestinal manifestations, and bronchopulmonary manifestations are extremely rare. Pulmonary lesions can occur before the diagnosis of CD; thus, pulmonary manifestations are often overlooked, which leads to misdiagnoses. Herein, we present a case with pulmonary nodules being exhibited before the patient was diagnosed with CD. To the best of our knowledge, only a few cases concerning this phenomenon have been reported. We describe an 11-year-old boy with a two-year history of anemia and without any gastrointestinal symptoms. He did not receive any thorough inspection until arthralgia occurred. Multiple nodules were found in his bilateral lungs via computed tomography scan. Combined with the child’s medical history, physical examinations, and all of the investigations, the final diagnosis was CD with pulmonary nodules and arthritis. After 2 months of treatment, the patient’s symptoms had significantly improved. To summarize the clinical manifestations, auxiliary examination features, and treatments of CD in children with pulmonary involvement, we also review the relevant characteristics of pulmonary involvement in CD patients. This case indicates the importance of recognizing the pulmonary manifestations of CD. Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of CD when their patients have lung nodules, even in children with no typical manifestations of CD.