Congenital Bronchiolitis Obliterans

Abstract

A case is described of intrauterine pneumonia with "Congenital Bronchiolitis Obliterans" in a premature infant who died 35 hours after delivery. The patient presented from birth with increasingly severe respiratory insufficiency. Post-mortem histological examination of the lung revealed obliterative bronchiolitis, a rare disease which the patient most probably developed in utero. Only two other similar cases of congenital obliterative bronchiolitis have been reported in the literature, both with obscure etiology. A detailed pathological description of pulmonary changes is given and the literature is reviewed.