Follicular bronchiolitis: a rare disease in children

Follicular bronchiolitis (FB) is a benign progressive lung disease. It is characterized with lymphoplasmocellular infiltration and hyperplastic follicles in the peribronchial areas in the small airways. Follicular bronchiolitis should be considered in cases where chronic cough, recurrent upper respiratory tract infections and progressive dyspnea are observed in children. The diagnosis should be supported by lung biopsy. A 8-year old female patient presented to our hospital with complaints including continuing cough and wheezing. Bilateral extensive rales and rhonchi in the lungs were heard on auscultation and lung graphy revealed reticuloglandular appearance. Bilateral extensive septal thickennings, reticulonodular appearance, patchy bronchiectasis, bronchiolectasis and peribronchial thickennings were found on high-resolution thoracal computarized tomography. A diagnosis of follicular bronchiolitis was made as a result of lung biopsy. Improvement was observed in the complaints and findings of our patient after methylprednisolone treatment. This patient was presented to emphasize rare interstitial lung diseases should also be considered in children who present with a clinical picture of chronic bronchial obstruction and do not respond to standard treatment.