[One case of severe tracheobronchopathy with immune depression : herpetic disease?]

The authors report a case of severe obliterating laryngo-tracheo-bronchitis without any evident etiology in a young patient with depressed immunity. A herpetic virus was isolated by distal bronchial brushing and by larynx biopsy. The level of specific antibodies rose significantly. These facts together with the clinical history and unsuccessful microbiological searches, suggest the herpetic nature of this affection, albeit exceptional. At this opportunity, a review of the literature is presented showing the imprecision of diagnostic criteria in this field of pathology.