Price of Passion - Pigeon Breeder’s Disease in a Young Male

Abstract

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), also called extrinsic allergic alveolitis, is a complex syndrome of varying intensity, clinical presentation, and natural history rather than a single, uniform disease. It represents an immunologic reaction to an inhaled agent, particularly an organic antigen, occurring within the pulmonary parenchyma. Prompt diagnosis of HP is important, as the disease is reversible when diagnosed early in its course. Here we present a case of a 26 year old male, whose hobby/passion was the reason of his lung condition. He was breeding pigeons for racing and had won many titles in it. He presented to us with symptoms of breathlessness, dry cough for 4 months and Velcro crackles on auscultation. Computed tomography of his chest showed ground glass nodules. Bronchoalveolar lavage recovered lymphocytes. When removed from his home environment he had improvement in his symptoms. He was diagnosed with bird breeder’s disease and treated. We have reviewed the diagnosis, management, outcome and prevention of bird breeder’s disease.

Keywords

• hypersensitivity pneumonitis
• pigeon breeders
• ground glass nodules