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Slovenska pediatrija 2014; 21: 188-194

https://doi.org/

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Case report

A CHILD WITH INTERSITITIAL LUNG DISEASE

S. Vukić
Osnovno zdravstvo Gorenjske, Zdravstveni dom Kranj, Kranj, Slovenija

M. Praprotnik
Služba za pljučne bolezni, Pediatrična klinika, Univerzitetni klinični center Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenija

Abstract

Children’s interstitial lung disease (chILD) is a term used to describe a heterogeneous group of diseases. Although they are rare, paediatricians should consider this possibility in a child with failure to thrive, hypoxaemia, tachypnoea and inspiratory rales. These diseases result from a variety of pathogenic processes, which include genetic factors, systemic disease processes, infections and exposure-related ILD. They are characterised by inflammatory and fibrotic changes that primarily affect the alveolar walls. We describe the case of an eight-month-old girl with a rare form of chILD – a neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy (NEHI). NEHI was diagnosed on the basis of clinical symptoms, characteristic findings on imaging studies and an increased number of bombesin-positive cells on lung biopsy.

Key words: interstitial lung disease, hypoxaemia, tachypnoea, neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy.