Faculty, Staff and Student Publications
Publication Date
7-1-2022
Journal
Chest
Abstract
Organizing pneumonia (OP), characterized histopathologically by patchy filling of alveoli and bronchioles by loose plugs of connective tissue, may be seen in a variety of conditions. These include but are not limited to after an infection, drug reactions, radiation therapy, and collagen vascular diseases. When a specific cause is responsible for this entity, it is referred to as "secondary OP." When an extensive search fails to reveal a cause, it is referred to as "cryptogenic OP" (previously called "bronchiolitis obliterans with OP"), which is a clinical, radiologic, and pathologic entity classified as an interstitial lung disease. The clinical presentation of OP often mimics that of other disorders, such as infection and cancer, which can result in a delay in diagnosis and inappropriate management of the underlying disease. The radiographic presentation of OP is polymorphous but often has subpleural consolidations with air bronchograms or solitary or multiple nodules, which can wax and wane. Diagnosis of OP sometimes requires histopathologic confirmation and exclusion of other possible causes. Treatment usually requires a prolonged steroid course, and disease relapse is common. The aim of this article is to summarize the clinical, radiographic, and histologic presentations of this disease and to provide a practical diagnostic algorithmic approach incorporating clinical history and characteristic imaging patterns.
Keywords
Bronchiolitis Obliterans, Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia, Humans, Lung, Lung Diseases, Interstitial, Pneumonia, acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia, cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, focal organizing pneumonia, organizing pneumonia, secondary organizing pneumonia
DOI
10.1016/j.chest.2021.12.659
PMID
35038455
PMCID
PMC9899643
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
1-14-2022
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes