A case of mycoplasma pneumonia associated with pulmonary and bronchial eosinophilia / 천식및알레르기

ABSTRACT

Epidemiologic evidences suggest a close linking exist between Mycoplasma infection and asthma exacerbation, and possibly as a factor in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, little is known about the pathogenetic mechanism of respiratory M. pneumonia infection on airway inflammation. We report a case of mycoplasma pneumonia associated with pulmonary and bronchial eosinophilia. A 25-year-old man developed fever, coughing and dyspnea for 5 days prior to the admission. Initial chest x-ray showed bilateral interstitial or nodular infiltration and right pleural effusion. In High-resolution chest CT, demonstrated bilateral interstitial thickening with perivascular blurring. Pulmonary function test showed mild restrictive ventilatory pattern. Differential cell count in induced sputum showed marked eosinophilia(70% of non-squamous cells). Furthermore, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid analysis showed excessive eosinophils(39%). Mycoplasmal antibody was detected in patient's serum in titer of 1 to 160 by indirect hemagglutination method. Methacholine PC20 was 11.4 mg/ml. After treatment with macrolide antibiotics only, patient's subjective symptoms, abnormalities in chest x-ray film and bronchial hyperreactivity were disappeared.