Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia laboratory findings

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Laboratory Findings

In patients with typical clinical and radiographic features, a transbronchial biopsy that shows the pathologic pattern of organizing pneumonia and lacks features of an alternative diagnosis is adequate to make a tentative diagnosis and start therapy. On surgical lung biopsy, the histopathologic pattern is organizing pneumonia with preserved lung architecture; this pattern is not exclusive to BOOP and must be interpreted in the clinical context. Most patients recover with corticosteroid therapy. A standardized approach to dosing starting at 0.75 mg/kg and weaning over 24 weeks has been shown to reduce total corticosteroid exposure without affecting outcome.