Takuya Okamura, Sayako Morikawa, Tomoya Horiguchi, Kumiko Yamatsuta, Toshikazu Watanabe, Aki Ikeda, Yuri Maeda, Takuma Ina, Hideaki Takahashi, Ryoma Moriya, Yasuhiro Goto, Sumito Isogai, Naoki Yamamoto, Shotaro Okachi, Naozumi Hashimoto, Kazuyoshi Imaizumi
INTRODUCTION: Increasing numbers of cases of mild asymptomatic pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) are being reported with the recent increase in chest computed tomography (CT). Bronchoscopic diagnosis of mild PAP is challenging because of the patchy distribution of lesions, which makes it difficult to obtain sufficient biopsy samples. Additionally, the pathological findings of mild PAP, particularly those that differ from severe PAP, have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to clarify the pathological findings of mild PAP and the usefulness of optical biopsy using probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE)...
February 22, 2024: Respiration; International Review of Thoracic Diseases