title: [Pathological examination of 11 autopsy cases of acute onset interstitial pneumonia of unknown etiology].
abstract: In 11 autopsy cases of acute onset interstitial pneumonia of unknown etiology, all cases had thickening of alveolar septa with various degrees of lymphocytic infiltration and fibroblast proliferation. Only a few cases had edematous alveolar septa, which were weakly positive in alcian-blue staining. Intra-alveolar, intra-alveolar duct and intra-bronchiolar organization was a characteristic finding. These findings may represent the repair phase rather than the exudative phase of diffuse alveolar damage. Localized bacterial pneumonia was superimposed in 3 cases, and neither Pneumocystis carinii nor viral inclusion bodies were identified in any case. The severity of fibrosis was not obviously correlated with the period of artificial ventilation. From these findings, terminal infection and oxygen therapy did not seem to significantly modify the course of acute-onset interstitial pneumonia. Further examination of autopsy cases as well as open-lung biopsy is important to elucidate the time course of acute-onset interstitial pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Fukuoka University.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aritomi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*