TY - JOUR T1 - Diffuse idiopathic neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia as a rare cause of chronic cough JF - BMJ Case Reports JO - BMJ Case Reports DO - 10.1136/bcr-2018-226203 VL - 11 IS - 1 SP - e226203 AU - Paula Inês Pedro AU - Dolores Canário AU - Miguel Lopes AU - Ana Oliveira Y1 - 2018/11/01 UR - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/11/1/e226203.abstract N2 - A 39-year-old Caucasian woman, who has never smoked, presented a 16-year-duration chronic dry cough. She was prescribed by her general physician with corticosteroid and long-acting β-agonist inhalers assuming it was asthma, with mild symptomatic improvement. When cough got more persistent and associated with exertional dyspnoea and wheezing, a chest CT scan was performed, which showed multiple bilateral micronodular formations and diffuse mosaic lung pattern with air trapping. She was sent to our Respiratory Department and performed a bronchoalveolar lavage and cryobiopsy that were inconclusive. She underwent surgical lung biopsy with pathology revealing multiple foci of neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia and tumourlets associated with constrictive bronchiolitis, a histological pattern suggestive of diffuse idiopathic neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (DIPNECH). DIPNECH is a rare and preinvasive disease. Presenting symptoms can be cough and breathlessness. At the time of writing, the patient is on octreotide with symptomatic improvement. ER -