Coexisting endogenous lipoid pneumonia, cholesterol granulomas, and pulmonary alveolar proteinosis in a pediatric population: a clinical, radiographic, and pathologic correlation.

Benign pulmonary diseases that have been associated with the accumulation of endogenous lipids within the alveoli, bronchioles, and interstitial tissues include endogenous lipoid pneumonia (ELP), pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), pulmonary interstitial and intra-alveolar cholesterol granulomas (PICG), various xanthomatous lesions, and malakoplakia. In ELP, fat-filled finely vacuolated macrophages fill the alveoli. In PAP, the aveoli become filled with cholesterol and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive acellular debris. In PICG, cholesterol esters are released from degenerating macrophages and, as organization occurs, the cholesterol is deposited in the form of acicular clefts within the interstitium. These morphologically distinct presentations of endogenous lipid deposition within the lung have long been thought to represent unique disease processes but several authors now postulate a possible relationship between these entities. We report here on the clinical, radiographic, and morphologic findings in eight pediatric patients with diverse primary disease processes who were subsequently found to have varying and often coexisting degrees of ELP, PAP, and PICG.