[Non-malignant lymphoid changes in the lung]

The authors diagnosed 5 cases of lymphoid interstitial lymphomas (LIP) and 2 pseudolymphomas among their patient material. 2 of the 5 LIP patients were men, whereas 3 were women. One of the patients was a 9-year old girl at the time of diagnosis. In all the 5 cases the disease was verified by means of the histological findings on biopsy of the lung. The patients were treated with corticosteroid, in one case with corticosteroid + cytostatic. The condition of 4 patients improved significantly; they were finally free from complaints. A definite regression was seen on x-ray film. The 5th patient (a woman) is still undergoing treatment at the time of writing. Of the 2 patients with pseudolymphoma, one was male and the other one female. The woman patient is still alive 14 years after the disease had been diagnosed. She received steroid and cytostatic treatment, and she is in a good condition. The male patient died 13 years after the disease had been confirmed, but his death was caused by another disease. He had been given telecobalt therapy. The authors discuss on the basis of two disease patterns the non-malignant lung changes and their differential diagnosis.