Objective: Idiopathic chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (ICEP) is a rare eosinophilic lung disorder with an unknown etiology and is characterized by subacute or chronic respiratory and general symptoms, alveolar and/or peripheral eosinophilia, and the accumulation of eosinophils in the lungs. We aimed to present diagnostic test results and follow-up outcomes of 17 patients who were diagnosed with ICEP in our hospital in light of literature.
Methods: Between 2008 and 2013, we examined 17 cases of ICEP. We evaluated clinical and laboratory findings together with the long-term follow-up data.
Results: The patients had a mean age of 40.8 years at presentation, and the female/male ratio was 0.8. The most common symptoms were cough (94%), shortness of breath (76%), and high fever (35%). Bronchoalveolar lavage eosinophil percentages of the patients ranged from 3% to 80%. Nine (53%) patients experienced recurrence. Six patients were maintained on low dose steroid due to repeating relapses. Among these patients, 7 (77.7%) had a total IgE level of above 500/IU/mL.
Conclusion: Relapses are common in ICEP after the withdrawal of corticosteroid treatment or during dose reduction. We point out the importance of the close monitoring of patients for identifying relapse. A higher total IgE level during diagnosis may serve as a predictor of recurrence.
C1 [Arinc, Sibel; Gungor, Sinem; Agca, Meltem; Irmak, Ilim; Guney, Pinar; Kavas, Murat; Turker, Hatice] Sureyyapasa Chest Dis & Thorac Surg Training & R, Dept Chest Dis, Istanbul, Turkey.
[Kasapoglu, Umut Sabri] Marmara Univ, Sch Med, Dept Pulm & Crit Care Med, Istanbul, Turkey.
[Yalcinsoy, Murat] Inonu Univ, Dept Chest Dis, Sch Med, Malatya, Turkey.