Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia.

An association between migratory pulmonary infiltrates and peripheral eosinophilia has been known for at least 40 years. Diagnostic challenges still exist in the classifications within this syndrome. We describe a 33-year-old female without asthma but with definite "atopy" who had a 4-year history of recurring pulmonary lesions. These were sometimes segmental, at other times dense and peripheral, and once there was lobar atelectasis due to mucoid impaction. Diagnosis by lung biopsy revealed eosinophilic pneumonia with bronchiolitis obliterans as a prominent feature. Steroid treatment resulted in promt improvement; during a 5-year follow-up the infiltrates have not recurred but there has been persistent mild obstruction.