Acute eosinophilic pneumonia caused by cigarette smoking.

It has been suggested that acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) is associated with cigarette smoking because in Japan, the patients with AEP are young and have a high incidence of short-term smoking history. However, there has been no direct evidence to support that cigarette smoke causes AEP. Herein is reported the first case showing the direct evidence and a long-term clinical course of cigarette smoking-induced AEP, in which tolerance to repeated resumption of smoking cigarettes might have occurred. We should pay attention to the history of cigarette smoking in seeing patients with AEP, especially in young patients.