Chronic localized pulmonary disease unresponsive to antibiotics requires differentiation between inflammatory and malignant processes. Early surgical intervention with histologic study is probably the conservative approach to the problem.
Since 1949, when Waddell et al1 reported ten cases of what has come to be known as "chronic pneumonia, cholesterol type," 15 additional cases have been reported in the American literature (2-6). Of these 25 patients, 21 were men, ranging from 32 to 67 years of age, making carcinoma of the lung an important consideration. The one child was a 12-year-old girl.1 The remaining three women were 44 to 59 years of age. We are reporting a case of cholesterol pneumonia in a 13-year-old girl who also has diabetes mellitus. We will review the clinical, surgical, radiologic, and pathologic features of the disease.
Report of a Case
A 13-year-old Negro girl was seen in May 1968 with a two-month history