[Diagnosis of prolonged eosinophilic pneumopathies]

Prolonged pulmonary eosinophilia are defined by the association of a pneumonia and a blood eosinophilia persisting for over a month. They cover a wide range of disorders : prolonged Loeffler's syndrome, Carrington's chronic eosinophilia pneumonia, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, necrotizing vasculitis as Churg and Strauss allergic granulomatosis and angeitis and polyarteritis nodosa, and the hypereosinophilic syndrome. All these conditions may form a continuum centered by the poorly defined chronic eosinophilic pneumonia. This entity may result from a non treated Loeffler's syndrome or may progress to the severe necrotizing vasculitis or hypereosinophilic syndrome.