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Review
. 2019 Mar 13:15:397-403.
doi: 10.2147/TCRM.S157882. eCollection 2019.

Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia: clinical perspectives

Matthew Crowe  1 , Drew Robinson  2 , Malvika Sagar  3 , Li Chen  4 , Shekhar Ghamande  1
Affiliations
Review

Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia: clinical perspectives

Matthew Crowe et al. Ther Clin Risk Manag. .

Abstract

Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP) is an eosinophilic lung disease that is typically diagnosed by a triad of clinical symptoms including pulmonary symptoms, eosinophilia and characteristic radiographic abnormalities. It requires a high index of suspicion given its overlap with other eosinophilic conditions and lack of a specific diagnostic test. The diagnosis is made after careful consideration of other secondary causes of eosinophilia, such as infectious, drugs, or toxic etiologies. CEP generally responds rapidly to treatment, which primarily consists of corticosteroid therapy, but relapses are common. Novel therapies are being explored as more information is being discovered about the pathophysiology of eosinophilic disease processes. Close follow-up is important given the difficulty in weaning patients from glucocorticoids with many patients developing sequelae of chronic glucocorticoid therapy. Therefore, exploring alternative treatments is of upmost importance.

Keywords: BAL; IL-5; eosinophilic; infiltrates; lung; mepolizumab; prednisone.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chest X ray of a patient with CEP demonstrating peripheral opacities. Abbreviation: CEP, chronic eosinophilic pneumonia.
Figure 2
Figure 2
CT coronal view of a patient with CEP demonstrating peripheral consolidation, with alveolar opacities asymmetrically more in the right upper lobe. Abbreviation: CEP, chronic eosinophilic pneumonia.
Figure 3
Figure 3
CT axial view in the same patient demonstrating the right-sided pleural based consolidation.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Histopathology features of chronic eosinophilic pneumonia. Notes: Alveolar spaces are filled with fibrinous exudate and numerous eosinophils (arrow). Eosinophils and macrophages infiltrate the interstitium (arrow head). H&E stain, ×200.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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