[Results of lung biopsy in interstitial pneumopathies in children. A report on 100 cases (author's transl)].

Needle biopsy was performed in 100 children with diffuse interstitial pneumopathy. Severe histological lesions were noted in the biopsy sections in 4 out 5 cases. Those most frequently observed (57 cases) were non-specific lesions of diffuse interstitial pneumopathy (DIP) or idiopathic fibrosis, the course of which was followed, in some cases, by repeating the biopsy. Specific lesions, especially idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis (8 cases), were noted in 22 children, either associated with interstitial fibrosis or apparently better tolerated. The other 16 cases included the lipoidoses (Niemann-Pick, histiocytosis X), alveolar microlithiasis, and some specific inflammatory diseases (tuberculosis, syphilis) or those related to inhalation of a foreign body.