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World J Respirol. Nov 28, 2014; 4(3): 26-30
Published online Nov 28, 2014. doi: 10.5320/wjr.v4.i3.26
Published online Nov 28, 2014. doi: 10.5320/wjr.v4.i3.26
Update on diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis
Hui-Ying Wang, Ni-Ya Zhou, Department of Allergy, the Second Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China
Xu-Yan Yang, Department of Rheumatology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Wang HY is responsible for the design and writing; Zhou NY is responsible for the data collecting; Yang XY attends the paper design.
Supported by Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Project, No. 2011C37073
Correspondence to: Hui-Ying Wang, MD, PhD, Department of Allergy, the Second Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 88 Jiefang Road, Hangzhou 310009, Zhejiang Province, China. w_huiying@yahoo.com
Telephone: +86-571-87783267 Fax: +86-571-87783516
Received: June 25, 2014
Revised: September 15, 2014
Accepted: September 17, 2014
Published online: November 28, 2014
Revised: September 15, 2014
Accepted: September 17, 2014
Published online: November 28, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM) is a rare disease and lack of enough acknowledgements. The present review provides a comprehensive description on the latest progress in the genotype and treatment of PAM. SLC34A2 is identified as the responsible gene and its mutation in patients from different countries has showed versatile symbols, whilst Chinese and Japanese patients only involved exon 7 and exon 8. The diagnosis of PAM could be established on typical chest radiograph image. Though currently no effective regimens are valid to cure the diseases, long term treatment of disodium etidronate seems promising.