A young woman with interstitial pneumonia and coexisting deposition of surfactant proteins

Abstract

We report a 23-year-old woman with interstitial inflammation and fibrosis associated with deposition of surfactant proteins in the airways. Biopsy of the lung showed multiple focal lesions containing dilated airways with inflammation and fibrosis. Pale eosinophilic amorphous material, dense eosinophilic bodies and numerous cholesterin clefts were observed in the airways. Surfactant protein A (SP-A) was expressed in the amorphous material. SP-D was identified in the dense eosinophilic bodies and around the acicular clefts. The finding that surfactant depositions were anatomically coincident with the interstitial pneumonia suggests that surfactant depositions were closely related to the interstitial pneumonia. © 2010 The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine.