Acute interstitial pneumonia in siblings: A case report

Abstract

Acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP) is a rapidly progressive condition of unknown cause that occurs in a previously healthy individual and produces the histologic findings of diffuse alveolar damage. Since the term AIP was first introduced in 1986, there have been very few case reports of AIP in children. Here we present a case of AIP in a 3-yr-old girl whose other two siblings showed similar radiologic findings. The patient was confirmed to have AIP from autopsy showing histological findings of diffuse alveolar damage and proliferation of fibroblasts. Her 3-yr-old brother was also clinically and radiologically highly suspected as having AIP, and the other asymptomatic 8-yr-old sister was radiologically suspected as having AIP.