title: Desquamative interstitial pneumonia with a remarkable increase in the number of BAL eosinophils.
abstract: A 57-year old man with desquamative interstitial pneumonia (DIP) showed a marked increase in eosinophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. The patient was referred to our hospital for abnormal shadows on his chest X-ray with no symptoms in May 2007. Computed tomography (CT) showed patchy, peripheral predominate ground-glass opacity. The BAL fluid revealed an increase of the total number of cells, including markedly elevated levels of eosinophils (62.1%), in contrast with only a slight increase of peripheral blood eosinophils, or minimal eosinophils in the alveolar spaces and interstitium of the thoracoscopic lung biopsy specimen. Since the specimens showed findings compatible with a DIP pattern, we diagnosed the patient with DIP. Although it is a rare entity, we should therefore consider DIP in the differential diagnosis when we encounter patients with a marked increase in the number of BAL eosinophils.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Saitama Cardiovascular and Respiratory Center, Kumagaya. ishiguro@med3.m.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishiguro
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takayanagi
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurashima
authors.forename: Aya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harasawa
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoneda
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsuchiya
authors.forename: Yousuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyahara
authors.forename: Shozaburo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Ryozo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Daidou
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tokunaga
authors.forename: Hiroo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ubukata
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yanagisawa
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugita
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawabata
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D017563:Lung Diseases, Interstitial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011657:Pulmonary Eosinophilia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*