lung and airway disorders
Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis
Symptoms of Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis
About 15% of people have no symptoms and the disorder is first recognized when an imaging study of the chest is done for another reason. The remainder develop coughing, shortness of breath, fever, chest pain worsened by deep breathing, fatigue, and weight loss. Pneumothorax (a collapsed lung) is a common complication due to rupture of a lung cyst and may be the cause of the first symptoms that develop. Scarring makes the lungs stiff and impairs their ability to transfer oxygen into and out of the blood. A few people cough up blood (hemoptysis). Some people have pain in certain parts of a bone or a pathologic bone fracture (a fracture that occurs after only a minor injury because the bone has been thinned by a disorder). A few people develop ArginineVasopressin Deficiency (Central Diabetes Insipidus) (formerly called central diabetes insipidus) when histiocytes also affect the pituitary gland in the brain. The person makes excessive amounts of urine that is dilute. People with 