Role of High-Resolution Chest Computed Tomography in a Child with Persistent Tachypnoea and Intercostal Retractions: A Case Report of Neuroendocrine Cell Hyperplasia

Mara Lelii, Maria Francesca Patria, Raffaella Pinzani, Rossana Tenconi, Alessandro Mori, Nicola Bonelli, Nicola Principi and Susanna Esposito
Additional contact information
Mara Lelii: Pediatric Highly Intensive Care Unit, Università degli Studi di Milano, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, Italy
Maria Francesca Patria: Pediatric Highly Intensive Care Unit, Università degli Studi di Milano, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, Italy
Raffaella Pinzani: Pediatric Highly Intensive Care Unit, Università degli Studi di Milano, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, Italy
Rossana Tenconi: Pediatric Highly Intensive Care Unit, Università degli Studi di Milano, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, Italy
Alessandro Mori: Pediatric Highly Intensive Care Unit, Università degli Studi di Milano, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, Italy
Nicola Bonelli: Pediatric Radiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, Italy
Nicola Principi: Pediatric Highly Intensive Care Unit, Università degli Studi di Milano, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, 20122 Milan, Italy
Susanna Esposito: Pediatric Clinic, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Piazza Menghini 1, 06129 Perugia, Italy

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-7

Abstract: Background : Chronic interstitial lung diseases in children (chILD) are a heterogeneous group of disorders that can represent a clinical challenge for pediatric pneumologists. Among them, neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy (NEHI) is a diffuse lung disease prevalent in the first years of life that spontaneously improves over time. The clinical presentation of NEHI is indistinguishable from other interstitial lung diseases, so a correct and non-invasive diagnosis by chest computed tomography (CT) without lung biopsy might not be simple. Case presentation : An 8-month-old male infant presented with a history of chronic tachypnoea and dyspnoea since 6 months of age. The patient was born at term, with APGAR scores of 9 and 10 at 1 and 5 min, respectively. Since his second month of life, the patient suffered from abnormal breathing, which was characterized by mild tachypnoea and costal retractions that worsened during breastfeeding, crying, and respiratory infections. Bilateral inspiratory crackles, preferential to the lung bases, without oxygen desaturation were detected. A chest X-ray showed a diffuse over-inflation of the lungs, but laboratory tests did not reveal any abnormalities. High-resolution chest CT documented patchy areas of ground-glass opacity involving the right upper lobe, middle lobe, and lingula, and showed mosaic areas of air-trapping, suggesting a diagnosis of NEHI. The infant was discharged without therapy and gradually improved over time. At 1 year of age, the patient was eupnoeic and chest auscultation had normalized. Conclusions : NEHI is an interstitial disease of infancy characterized by tachypnoea from the first months of life, with a good prognosis and for which a rational diagnostic approach is crucial for making a specific, early diagnosis. Initially, clinical suspicions can be confirmed with reasonable accuracy by a CT scan of the chest. Other more invasive and more expensive investigations should be reserved for selected cases that do not show a spontaneous, favourable clinical evolution.

Keywords: computed tomography; interstitial lung disease; neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy; respiratory distress; tachypnoea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/10/1113/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/10/1113/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:10:p:1113-:d:113111

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().