Abstract

Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) is an entity of unknown etiology characterized histologically by granulation tissue plugs within the lumens of small airways extending into the alveolar ducts and airways. The typical presenting symptoms and signs are dyspnea, cough, fever, weight loss, and a chest radiograph with single or multiple alveolar opacities. Some cases progress rapidly and have a poor prognosis. We followedup three idiopathic BOOP cases in one month. Pathological diagnosis was based on transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) in all of them. The characteristic features of all cases were progressive respiratory failure. We treated them with high dose prednisolone for three days (first day 80 mg q6h, second day 80 mg q8h, third day 80 mg q12h) and continued with 1 mg/kg/d prednisolone. We observed rapid radiological and clinical improvement in all cases. Interestingly, these three patients were admitted to our clinic with progressive respiratory failure in the same one month period.