Successful Treatment of Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis Caused

We successfully treated a patient with occupational hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) caused by Grifola frondosa (Maitake) mushroom spore with an extra-fine aerosol corticosteroid; beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) dissolved in hydrofluoroalkane-134a (HFA). A 49year-old woman developed respiratory symptoms 3 months after beginning work on a mushroom farm. She was diagnosed as HP based on radiological and serological findings. Oral prednisolone therapy improved her HP and she returned to the same farm. Her HP relapsed after 5 months, and daily 400 g of HFA-BDP was administered with gradual improvement. An extra-fine particle inhaled corticosteroid might reach appropriate alveoli to be effective therapy for mild HP. (Internal Medicine 43: 737–740, 2004)