본 증례를 통하여 급성 호산구성 폐렴은 아토피질환 존재등의 만성 호산구성 폐렴의 임상양상을 일부 동반할 수 있으며, 만성 호산구성 폐렴과의 감별이 어려운 경우 기관지폐 포세척술을 시행하여 세척액내 호산구뿐만 아니라 림프구 및 호중구의 증가 소견을 증명하면 급성 호산구성 폐렴의 진단에 도움이 될 수 있을 것으로 생각된다.

Acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) represents a clinical entity distinct from chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP). In contrast with CEP, AEP is characterized by duration of symptoms less than 5 days, hypoxemic respiratory failure, no blood eosinophilia at presentation, no atopic background or history of asthma, and no recurrence. However, we report a case of AEP with some features of CEP. A 33-year-old man presented with respiratory symptoms for 4 days. He was diagnosed with AEP based on hypoxemic respiratory failure, diffuse alveolar-interstitial chest X-ray infiltrates, and eosinophilia, lymphocytosis and neutrophilia from bronchoalveolar lavages. However, he had two atopic diseases, asthma and atopic dermatitis. In addition, he presented with blood eosinophilia, which are all features of CEP. Thus, there might be some overlap of clinical features between AEP and CEP. The presence of increased lymphocytes and neutrophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage can be an important finding to help distinguish between AEP versus CEP in difficult cases. (Korean J Med 79:724-728, 2010)