Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, based on a case report

Abstract

Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP) is an inflammatory disease of the lungs of unknown etiology, belonging to the group of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias. This unusual pathology presents in both women and men, around the age of 50 to 60; tobacco is not considered a risk factor and due to the good response of glucocorticoids, two thirds of patients show clinical and radiological improvement by the end of the process.

A 69-year-old man was admitted to Gernika Hospital with symptoms that started four days before with malaise, sweating and yellowish sputum. At first, given the clinical presentation and the lobar condensation observed on the chest x-ray, a diagnosis of infectious pneumonia was made and antibiotic treatment was initiated. However, despite a symptomatic improvement a month later, the radiological images worsened, and after performing a CT scan, the diagnosis was changed to Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia.

The aim of this paper is to summarize the latest available updates on this unusual pathology, which will be highly useful in day-to-day practice