Diffuse Panbronchiolitis - History

History

In the early 1960s, a relatively new chronic lung disease was being observed and described by physicians in Japan. In 1969, the name "diffuse panbronchiolitis" was introduced to distinguish it from chronic bronchitis, emphysema, alveolitis, and other obstructive lung disease with inflammation. Between 1978 and 1980, results of a nation-wide survey initiated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan revealed more than 1,000 probable cases of DPB, with 82 histologically confirmed. By the 1980s, it was internationally recognized as a distinct disease of the lungs.

Before the 1980s, the prognosis or expected outcome of DPB was poor, especially in cases with superinfection (the emergence of a new viral or bacterial infection, in addition to the currently occurring infection) by P. aeruginosa. DPB continued to have a very high mortality rate before generalized antibiotic treatment and oxygen therapy were beginning to be used routinely in the effort to manage symptoms. Around 1985, when long-term treatment with the antibiotic erythromycin became the standard for managing DPB, the prognosis significantly improved. In 1990, the association of DPB with HLA was initially asserted.