Diffuse panbronchiolitis: not just an Asian disease: Australian case series and review of the literature

Diffuse panbronchiolitis is a disease of obscure aetiology that is traditionally associated with Asian ethnicity. We propose that this disease also occurs in Caucasians and the incidence in this population is greater than currently recognised. We further propose that high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and response to macrolide therapy should be relied upon to make this diagnosis without verification by lung biopsy. In most circumstances, obtaining a biopsy for histopathology is not practical, and the disease may then be mistaken for other more common airway diseases. Accuracy of diagnosis is important as untreated disease is associated with a poor prognosis, and effective treatment is available. We report four out of a series of cases as evidence that DPB is in fact more common in the Western population than is currently understood.