Diagnosis of BOOP

How is BOOP diagnosed? 

At the beginning, it is like the flu and troublesome to diagnose, but there are patchy infiltrates in the chest x-ray. In BOOP, these patchy infiltrates in the x-ray do not vanish after a course of antibiotics. They worsen.

Next, a chest computerized scan (CT Scan) and lung function studies are obtained. By now, a pattern of BOOP is beginning to emerge. What's next?In some unusual situations, an 'empiric trial' of steroid therapy is given. This means that a medication is given for a specific length of time to "see if it works". However, BOOP requires a specific dosage scheduling, and there are several lung diseases that can mimic BOOP. Therefore, it is preferred that a small piece of lung tissue be obtained to confirm the diagnosis. Video assisted thoracoscopy surgery or a small operation is used to obtain the tissue.

Do you have to be in the hospital?

Patients are usually admitted to the hospital because of the flu-like illness and a chest x-ray that shows the patchy infiltrates are not fading. The illness does not resolve with the usual course of antibiotics and hospital admission is required because of persistent respiratory symptoms.

At this point, often a small piece of lung tissue is needed to make the diagnosis. Video assisted thoracoscopy surgery or a small lung operation is used to obtain the tissue. A few days in the hospital is usually needed to establish the diagnosis and begin treatment.Most of the treatment is then on an ambulatory basis with intermittent visits to the doctor's office to monitor the disease status and for medication adjustments.

Can your family doctor treat BOOP?

Usually, a lung specialist is called during the hospitalization and provides consultative guidance initially. Then the family doctor can monitor the course of the illness and treatment sometimes without additional review. Intermittent visits to the lung specialist may be required.

As with any medical condition, a second opinion is an option for the confirmation of the diagnosis and review of the treatment plan.

Is BOOP contagious?

No, BOOP is not contagious. No matter what the cause, no one can give anyone else BOOP. No one can 'catch' BOOP from someone who has it.

Is BOOP inherited?

No, BOOP is not inherited. There have been no reports of BOOP occurring in families.

Can children get BOOP?

BOOP is rare in children. There has been a report of two children aged 13 and 14 who developed idiopathic BOOP. Since there were no abnormalities except for the x-ray that showed migratory patchy infiltrates, no medication was given.

BOOP was reported to have occurred in an 8 year old who had received a bone marrow transplant seven months earlier. The BOOP responded to corticosteroid treatment.BOOP has also been reported in three children aged 6, 9 and 12 treated for acute leukemia. The onset of BOOP occurred 10 to 20 days after initiation of cancer therapy. All recovered completely.

Does cigarette smoking cause BOOP?

No, cigarette smoking does not cause BOOP. Smokers and non smokers develop BOOP at an equal frequency.

However, the lung function tests of smokers may show obstruction of the airflow. Because of this, individuals who smoke cigarettes may have a slower response to the treatment and a slower recovery. There will be no airflow obstruction in someone who has never smoked cigarettes.

Can you get BOOP from the workplace or from the environment?

Unlikely. BOOP can occur from workplace or environmental exposures, but it has been very rarely reported.

There has been a report of several workers among eight textile airbrushing printing factories in Spain who developed a respiratory illness. The lung tissue showed BOOP. Some workers responded to corticosteroid therapy, some did not, and some had residual symptoms. It was suggested that spraying procedures that delivered an aerosol of the textile printing dye caused the lung disease. The textile dying process was changed. There have been no recurrences.

There was a report of a person who developed BOOP from a cloud of dust from a mold that was growing on the top of orange juice in a carton container. The BOOP was cured with corticosteroid therapy.

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General Questions

Treatment

Types of BOOP

Books and Articles about Boop

Physicians Corner