Pena-Olivera RA, Navarro-Baldellot AL, Sánchez-Sánchez S

Language: Spanish
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ABSTRACT

Extrinsic allergic alveolitis encompasses a group of immunologically mediated entities caused by repeated inhalation of antigens. Its incidence ranges between 0,3 and 0,9 cases per 100 000 inhabitants worldwide. A case of an 18-year-old patient, a carpentry assistant, who started with shortness of breath, cough and fever after cutting wood is presented. Given these symptoms and the finding of crackles at the base of the left hemithorax, it was treated as communityacquired pneumonia. Complementary tests showed increased immunoglobulin G, eosinophilia and a restrictive pattern in spirometry. An extrinsic allergic alveolitis was diagnosed and treatment with oral steroids was indicated, with a satisfactory evolution. Occupational extrinsic allergic alveolitis is a difficult pathology to diagnose due to its low frequency and similarity with other interstitial lung diseases, but once diagnosed it evolves favorably with the use of steroids.