Organizing pneumonia related to common variable immunodeficiency. case report and literature review

A 68-year-old woman suffering from common variable immunodeficiency (CVI) developed a typical picture of organizing pneumonia. Causative factors other than CVI were eliminated. Several antibiotic regimens failed to improve the patient's condition, while the clinical manifestations rapidly disappeared under steroid therapy, with complete radiological recovery, but relapsed after steroid withdrawal. Finally, organizing pneumonia was definitely demonstrated by pathological findings obtained by open lung biopsy. Interestingly, pathological examination exhibited two other well-known CVI-associated lesions, i.e. benign lymphoid hyperplasia and noncaseating granuloma. In view of reports in the literature, we speculate that these different histological patterns could have resulted in a spectrum of symptomatic CVI-associated pulmonary disorders that improved under steroid therapy.