Eosinophilic pneumonia of the lungs Pulmonary eosinophilia with a chronic character is a common lung disease, but only if there are more than four weeks of infiltrates in the lungs. This disease is expressed by the accumulation of eosinophils in the airways. If we talk about the prevalence of this disease, it is worth noting that to this day this information is not known, since eosinophilic pneumonia is an allergic diathesis.


But, nevertheless, it should be said that most of the evidence for the occurrence is that eosinophils are able to perform the role of effector cells, which destroy the interstitial tissue. This is confirmed by numerous data obtained from the cytotoxic action performed by eosinophils, and also from observations of their ability to induce lung parenchyma. And here the mechanism of the process occurring in the respiratory tract is divided into two ways, the first is collagenesis, because of which the collagen of the lungs of the first and third type is destroyed. The second is the damage of parenchyma cells due to granular proteins and oxygen radicals.

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It is interesting that most people who suffer from this disease do not smoke cigarettes.

How does the disease process occur?

It should be said that the causes of the development of such a disease are similar to those that have the Leffer syndrome. But despite this, the distinctive signs of the emergence of chronic eosinophilic pneumonia in the first place are cancer of the thyroid gland, stomach or the lungs themselves. In addition, the development of the disease contributes to connective tissue diseases, as well as bronchial asthma, after which, in fifty percent of cases, the onset of this pulmonary disease occurs. Development of the disease occurs with lightning speed, at the outset there is a strong cough, followed by a rise in temperature, dyspnea begins to increase, the body begins to lose weight, and at night there are heavy sweating and wheezing. When this disease occurs in the vessels and the lung patient, various changes are observed, characterized by thickening of the intima and infiltration of the vascular wall.

Development of parasitic infections

HEP develops in three directions. The first is the invasion of parasites into the lungs, through the bloodstream they enter the lung tissue during their life cycle. The second is the migration of eosinophils into the lung tissue, in order to provide the necessary resistance to the further development of the disease. Among the parasites that can penetrate the respiratory tract, it is worth noting the pulmonary fluke, which is the direct causative agent of paragonimosis, as well as pig tapeworm and tapeworms. As for the parasites temporarily living in the human lungs, it is, of course, human Ascreeds and hookworms. If pulmonary pneumonia is caused by parasites from this group, then this disease belongs to the Leffer syndrome. The third direction of the disease develops when parasites enter the bloodstream through the introduction of massive accumulations of eggs. Among these parasites there are intestinal ugines, schistosomes and hookworms.

Diagnosis of

The patient is diagnosed with pulmonary eosinophilic pneumonia based on a blood test, clinical manifestations, and an X-ray of the lung. In the course of the conducted studies of the state of the organism, increased ESR, thrombocytosis and iron deficiency anemia are most often found. The chest image shows infiltrates located in the sub-vertebral or lateral zones, but this is only in sixty percent of cases, mostly they can be seen in the upper or middle section of the lung. This pattern occurs in twenty-five percent of diagnosed patients. HEP is an idiopathic disease. And in recent years, there have been medicines that induce the onset of this disease. Therefore, it is worth noting such drugs as nitrofuran and bleomycin, as well as penicillin and the salt of nickel.

What is fraught with this disease?

Most often, eosinophilic pneumonia of a chronic nature leads to irreversible pulmonary fibrosis, of course, the likelihood of a lethal outcome is very small, but, nevertheless, it takes place to be. As for relapse, it is directly indicative of the fact that therapy does not help the patient cope with the disease. In addition, the disease can limit the incoming air flow, but this again does not happen to everyone.

How does the treatment process occur?

The treatment process of this disease must be started immediately upon detection of HEP.The implementation of the therapeutic process primarily depends on the etiological factors. Depending on them, the patient is prescribed antimycotic therapy, which lasts six weeks, during which a gradual process of drug withdrawal is taking place. With chronic eosinophilic pneumonia, the effectiveness of oral and internal glcocorticoids increases many-fold. Therefore, at the initial stages of the development of this disease, the use of prednisolone is recommended, in an amount of once a day. As for the recovery process, it is worth noting that with proper treatment the patient begins to feel much better almost instantaneously, often in forty-eight hours. If we talk about changes in chest x-ray images, then these indicators will improve in two weeks, in some cases the recovery process takes a little more - one month. Thus, evaluation of the dynamics of lung recovery is an important and most effective indicator of monitoring the conduct of therapy.

After the prescribed course of therapy has been passed, in more than fifty cases there may be a clinical or radiologic relapse. The development of relapse can occur as in a month, and a year after recovery. Therefore, there are cases that the treatment of chronic eosinophilic pneumonia continues for a long time. In particularly difficult cases, which are reduced to the syndrome of Lera-Kindberg, there is a development of pulmonary and cardiac failure, eventually a fatal outcome may occur.

Forecast

If we talk about the future life of a person with a chronic disease of eosinophilic pneumonia of the lungs, it is worth saying that the lethal outcome is unlikely, but only if the patient receives the treatment he needs. But there are often cases of recurrence of HEP, this is due to the fact that the preparation of the drug prednisolone over time is reduced to the minimum amount, so that the patient does not develop dependence. But some patients do not cope and therefore often there are cases when people need lifelong therapy. It is worth noting the numerous side effects caused by the drug: a tendency to infections, stomach ulcers, cardinal changes in appearance and osteoporosis.