A Case of Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis with Spontaneous Resolution. |
Seung Bum Nam, Kwang Young Park, Ho Jin Lee, Jae Wook Jung, Yoon Hee Choi, Hyo Seok Kim, Cheol Hyeon Kim, Jae Cheol Lee |
Department of Internal Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Seoul, Korea. jclee@kcch.re.kr |
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Abstract |
Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is a rare disorder that is characterized by the abundant accumulation of surfactant-derived material within the alveolar spaces and distal bronchioles. Although the findings of homogenous ground-glass opacities overlaid by thickened septa, which form a "crazy paving" pattern on high-resolution computed tomography, can assist in making a diagnosis, a lung biopsy is usually required. This disorder has a variable clinical course, from spontaneous resolution to respiratory failure and death. While a whole lung lavage has been the standard treatment since the early 1960s, GM-CSF therapy has been attempted based on the recently suggested pathogenetic mechanism. We report a case of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis that resolved spontaneously after an open lung biopsy. |
Key Words:
Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, Spontaneous resolution |
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