Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia presenting with recurrent massive bilateral pleural effusion : case report.

We describe a rare case of a 29-year-old woman with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP) presenting with massive bilateral pleural effusion leading to respiratory failure, a complication that was not reported before with CEP. The patient was successfully managed with ventilatory support and steroid therapy. On long-term follow-up, she remained well, receiving a low maintenance dose of prednisone without evidence of relapse of the disease.

Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome: a report of four cases in Arabs, and a review of the literature.

We report four Arab patients with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (IHES). They presented with varied clinical pictures simulating chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), meningioma, peripheral neuropathy, and infective endocarditis (IE). All had significant peripheral and bone marrow eosinophilia, histological confirmation of eosinophilic infiltration of multiple organs, and clinical evidence of multi-organ dysfunction. Extensive laboratory investigations excluded other possible causes of eosinophilia. All were treated with steroids, with complete response in two. Two others were treated additionally with hydroxyurea, and one with methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, vincristine and alpha-interferon. The pathogenesis, varied clinical, laboratory, and histopathological features, and the management of IHES are reviewed.