Life after acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia: a case report of a patient 30 months after diagnosis and review of the literature

Acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia (AFOP) is a rare histologic interstitial pneumonia pattern recently described in the literature with fewer than 120 cases published. AFOP is often difficult to diagnose and may be mistaken for other pulmonary disorders such as interstitial pneumonias or pneumonitides. Patients often present with vague symptoms of cough, dyspnea, hemoptysis, fatigue, and occasionally respiratory failure. Radiological findings show diffuse patchy opacities and ground glass appearance of the lungs. On histologic examination, intra-alveolar fibrin balls are observed. We discuss a case of a man who presented with hemoptysis and dyspnea and whose open lung biopsy revealed AFOP. We will describe the presentation, diagnosis, and post-discharge course, and review the current literature. There are only 4 cases which have reported the patients’ course of disease after 1 year, the longest being 2 years. To our knowledge, this is the only case of AFOP in the literature that describes the course of a patient more than 2 years after the diagnosis of AFOP, and is the most comprehensive review of the current literature.