Exogenous Lipoid Pneumonia Successfully Treated With Bronchoscopic Segmental Lavage Therapy

A 65-y-old Japanese man was referred to the respiratory medicine department because of abnormal radiologic findings. High-resolution chest computed tomography scans revealed a geographic dis-tribution of ground-glass opacities and associated thickening of the interlobular septa (crazy-paving patterns) in both lower lobes. He had a habit of drinking 400–500 mL of milk and 400–800 mL of canned coffee with milk every day. A swallowing function test revealed liquid dysphagia. Bron-choalveolar lavage fluid cytology findings showed multiple lipid-laden macrophages. Taken to-gether, these findings revealed exogenous lipoid pneumonia. We performed bronchoscopic segmen-tal lavage therapy 3 times in the left lung. After the treatment, the radiologic findings improved in both lungs. The patient has not experienced a recurrence of lipoid pneumonia in 2 y to date. In conclusion, a case of exogenous lipoid pneumonia was successfully treated with bronchoscopic segmental lavage therapy.