[Acute lung injury as initial manifestation of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage].

Objective: To determine clinical features and outcome in hospitalized patients with acute lung injury secondary to diffuse pulmonary hemorrhage (DPH).
Patients and Method: Eight adult patients suffering DPH and acute lung injury were undergone to diagnosis procedure and following.
Results: Two cases of idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis, two cases of systemic lupus erythematous, two cases of Goodpasture's syndrome, one case of idiopathic rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and one of periarteritis nodosa were diagnosed. Treatment was methylprednisolone in all cases; besides, three cases required ventilatory support, and one immunosuppressive therapy, plasmapheresis and hemodialysis. One patient died and three of them suffered relapse with satisfactory outcome.
Conclusion: We remark the presence of acute lung injury as an initial feature of DPH in our experience and the importance of a prompt diagnosis of the underlying disease.