Correct!
5. All of the above

Allen et al. (1) reviewed 1,059 consecutive patients undergoing bronchoscopy with BAL. Forty-eight patients were found to have 5% or more BAL eosinophils. The most common causes for increased BAL eosinophils were interstitial lung diseases (40% of patients), acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-associated pneumonia (17% of patients), idiopathic eosinophilic pneumonia (15% of patients), and drug-induced lung disease (12% of patients). In contrast, eosinophils were uncommon in the BAL of patients with the adult respiratory distress syndrome, lung cancer, community-acquired pneumonia, or immunocompromising diseases other than AIDS. The authors concluded that although the finding of an increased percentage of BAL eosinophils is uncommon, when present it is relatively specific for a limited number of diseases

Which of the following is/are true regarding our patient?

  1. Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia usually responds to corticosteroids
  2. He likely has asthma from bronchopulmonary aspergillosis
  3. He likely has a drug-induced lung disease
  4. A thoracic CT scan is not indicated because the chest x-ray is normal
  5. All of the above

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