Increased neutrophils and IL-17A in a rare organizing pneumonia secondary to extrapulmonary operation

Organizing pneumonia (OP), which used to be called bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP), was first described as a clinical pathology syndrome characterized by granulation tissue in the lumens of small airways, alveolar ducts and the alveolar space by Epler et al. in 1985 (1). This condition is regarded as a common reaction of lung tissue to different injury factors and a mutual manifestation of a variety of diseases in the lungs rather than an independent disease. When the lung is injured by various acute and chronic factors, it can be manifested as diffuse alveolar damage, OP, acute fibrinous and OP and certain types of fibrotic lung disease (2) In 2001, the American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS) referred to idiopathic OP as cryptogenic pneumonia (COP), which is recognized as a subtype of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia and OP with specific etiology as secondary organizing pneumonia (SOP) (3). As we know, a number of diseases and factors are correlated with OP, such as infection (4), connective tissue disease (CTD) (5,6), radiation therapy (7), drug reaction (8), cancer (9), hematological diseases (10), inflammatory bowel disease (11), organ transplantation (12), gastroesophageal reflux disease (13), toxic exposure (14), thyroid disease (15), and menstruation (16). In recent years, some cases of OP following chest surgery have also been reported (17). A case of acute fibrinous and OP after a surgical resection of rectal adenocarcinomas has recently been reported (18), which could still not prelude the effects of cancer. However, as far as we know, until now, no cases of OP secondary to nonthoracic surgery have been reported. Here, we report a case of OP secondary to internal fixation surgery for a left clavicular fracture