Recent studies have described the combination of both pulmonary emphysema and idiopathic interstitial lung disease (ILDs) by means of high-resolution computed axial tomography (HRCT). Definition of this syndrome was first named by Cottin as combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE). Functional and radiological findings have showed that these patients are suffering from severe breathlessness, but whose pulmonary functional tests revealed no signs of obstruction, normal static lung volumes, and depressed DLco, most with a history of smoking [1] [2]. The radiological and endoscopic studies especially show that these patients have both areas of upper-lobe predominant emphysema and lesions compatible with fibrosis in both lung bases [3]. No prior research has reported any cases of such condition in person with no prior history of smoking as well as long-term high-dose of glucocorticoid therapy. In this case report, we discuss the presentation, diagnosis, and management of a 53-year-old non-smoker with increasing shortness of breath with a long-term high-dose of glucocorticoid therapy discovered to have an abnormal variant or presentation of CPFE. The cause of disease was attributed to a certain history of smoking in most studies;other potential risk factors have yet to be properly analyzed. This clinical report features a special case about the problem and solution surrounding this issue.
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