A Case of Organising Pneumonia Associated with Streptococcus pneumoniae

Abstract

Organizing pneumonia is a histopathological entity that has been described in association with numerous clinical and radiological conditions. A 57-year-old female patient was evaluated for somnolence, fatique, exhaustion and sweating that started 1 month ago. Although she had no respiratory symptoms, bilateral patchy infiltrations were seen on her chest x-ray taken for routine evaluation for differential diagnosis of those infiltrations. Transthoracic tru-cut lung biopsy was taken and patient was diagnosed as organising pneumonia (OP) with relevant histopathological findings. Although no etiological factor has been identified at the beginning, Streptococcus pneumoniae has been determined in the BAL fluid and the case is thought to be OP secondary to a microbiologic etiology. Oral prednisolon treatment has been started at 1 mg/kg/day dosage and tapered within 6 months. Six months later, the somnolence disappeared completely, patient recovered clinically and infiltrations on her chest radiograph showed significant regression.