Chest
Clinical InvestigationsIdiopathic Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia: Definition of Characteristic Clinical Profiles in a Series of 16 Patients
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
We selected from the files of the Department of Pathology all the cases of patent intraluminal fibrosis of distal airspaces observed from 1982 to August 1988 on pulmonary tissue obtained by open lung biopsy, pulmonary excision (pneumonectomy, lobectomy, segmentectomy), or autopsy.
Results
Intraluminal fibrosis of distal airspaces (BOOP) was present in 21 patients. Clinical information was insufficient for correct analysis in one case. A definite etiology was found in three cases (sarcoidosis, pulmonary vasculitis, and hyperacute radiation pneumonitis), and in one case of interstitial lung disease a reaction to amiodarone was suspected.
The remaining 16 patients with idiopathic pulmonary disease and BOOP were included in the present study. The pulmonary tissue examined had been
Discussion
The present study delineated homogeneous clinical and imaging profiles in a series of patients with idiopathic pneumonitis whose common denominator was the presence of intraluminal fibrosis of distal airspaces (BOOP).
Multiple patchy pneumonia was the most characteristic presentation of patients with BOOP in this series. The patients with “cryptogenic organizing pneumonitis” reported by Davison et al3 fell into this category, as did most patients of Epler et al.5 Nevertheless, this presentation
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank L. D. Gruer for reviewing the translation and M. C. Thévenet for secretarial assistance.
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Manuscript received November 30; revision accepted March 6
This work was supported by grant 86 MR/4 from Fonds Spécial des Comités Départementaux, Comité contre les Maladies Respiratoires et la Tuberculose.