[Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage in 4 girls].

This article reports 4 girls with clinical manifestations of recurrent cough and anemia. The age of onset was less than 4 years, and three of them had shortness of breath. None of them had acute hemoptysis. All the girls had positive results of hemosiderin test for bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. As for imaging examination, 3 patients had ground-glass opacity, and 1 had interstitial change. Three girls were given the treatment for idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis and had no response. Selective bronchial arteriography was performed for the 4 girls and found bronchial artery to pulmonary circulation shunt (BPS). After they were diagnosed with BPS, they were given transcatheter embolization. The girls were followed up for half a year after surgery, and none of them was readmitted due to "cough and anemia". BPS manifests as abnormal shunt between the bronchial artery and the pulmonary artery/vein and has unknown causes. It is rare in children and should be considered for children who were thought to have idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis and had poor response to corticosteroid therapy.