Diagnosis in Just Over a Minute: a Case of Chronic Eosinophilic Pneumonia

Abstract

Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP) is a rare interstitial lung disease characterized by subacute dyspnea, peripheral infiltrates on imaging, and pulmonary eosinophilia. We report a case of a 48-year-old man who presented to a "minute clinic" with cough and dyspnea. After improvement on a short course of steroids for a presumptive diagnosis of bronchospasm, he presented to our hospital with symptom recurrence. Computed tomography (CT) imaging revealed peripheral infiltrates and bronchoscopy confirmed pulmonary eosinophilia. In this clinical vignette, we review the typical presentation of chronic eosinophilic pneumonia, the differential diagnosis of pulmonary infiltrates with eosinophilia, and the challenges of diagnosing a rare condition that may mimic more common causes of dyspnea, especially in a "minute clinic" setting.