Abstract Follicular bronchiolitis (FB) is a rare inflammatory lung disease characterized by the development of lymphoid follicles with germinal centers surrounding the small airways. This disease process has been associated with several autoimmune conditions, immunodeficiency syndromes, and chronic respiratory infections. We present a case describing a patient with dermatomyositis and a reactive airway disease who was hospitalized repeatedly for episodes of pneumonia and persistent cough. Following treatment with immunosuppressants and bronchodilators, supplemented by short courses of anti-inflammatory agents, her respiratory symptoms significantly improved. This case underscores three crucial features of FB. The disease should be considered when chronic respiratory problems co-occur with an autoimmune disease; treatment should be tailored to the underlying autoimmune disease, and, without histopathologic confirmation, the diagnosis is challenging to make based solely on clinical and radiologic findings. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of dermatomyositis co-occurring with FB. This abstract is funded by: None
Namazi et al. (Fri,) studied this question.