Congenital alveolar proteinosis.

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is recently described as a rare cause of lung dysfunction and respiratory distress in term neonates. In several cases, a deficiency or insufficiency of surfactant protein B SP-B has been caused by a frame shift mutation in the gene encoding SP-B. Three siblings with congenital pulmonary alveolar proteinosis showed clinical and radiological evidence. Histopathological and immunohistochemical studies in the last sibling revealed deficiency of SP-B, one of the group of 3 specific lipoproteins that reduce the surface tension between air and liquid interface within pulmonary alveoli, suggesting a gene associated illness.