Clinical Manifestations of Respiratory Bronchiolitis as an Incidental Finding in Surgical Lung Biopsies: A Retrospective Analysis of a Large Austrian Registry.

Background: While respiratory bronchiolitis (RB) is a frequent histopathological finding in smoker's lungs, RB-associated interstitial lung disease (RB-ILD) remains a rare disease.

Objectives: We analyzed how the histological finding of RB was associated with clinical information in a series of 684 consecutive surgical lung biopsies.

Methods: Retrospective analysis with delineation of clinical manifestations, smoking habits, pulmonary function test, and blood gas analysis in patients with RB in surgical lung biopsy.