ABSTRACT
We treated a case of chronic pigeon breeder's disease with pulmonary cysts. The patient was a 49-year-old woman whose husband had started to breed pigeons 23 years earlier. She was given a diagnosis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis due to pigeons 1 year previously, but since her husband refused to stop keeping the birds, she could not stay out of contact with them. A chest CT scan showed bilateral multiple pulmonary cysts and a diffuse groundglass appearance. The transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) specimens showed bronchioloalveolitis characterized by infiltration of lymphocytes and plasma cells into the walls of the bronchioles and the surrounding alveolar walls. Tests for antibodies to extracts of both pigeon droppings and budgerigar droppings were positive. After admission to our hospital and avoidance of contact with birds, the groundglass changes, dyspnea, and hypoxemia ameliorated. Multiple pulmonary cysts in a non-smoker is a rare manifestation of chronic pigeon breeder's disease.
