Successful treatment of suspected organizing pneumonia in a patient without typical imaging and pathological characteristic: A case report

INTRODUCTION: Organizing pneumonia (OP) is a clinicopathological entity characterized by granulation tissue plugs in the lumen of small airways, alveolar ducts, and alveoli. Diagnosis of OP needs the combination of clinical features, imaging and pathology. But it occurs often that there are no typical pathological features to support the diagnosis, which poses a challenge for clinicians' diagnosis and treatment. We diagnosed a case of OP without typical imaging and pathological characteristic and treated successfully. Finally we confirmed the pathological diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Not every OP case is supported by pathological evidence and typical imaging changes. It is important for us to judge and decide the diagnosis according to clinical experience.