[45-year old patient with progressive shortness of breath and "crazy paving"].

A 45-year-old man referred with progressive shortness of breath. Chest X-ray revealed a diffuse parenchymal process in the lungs, which was characterized as a "crazy paving" pattern in the thoracic CT. Pulmonary function test showed severe impairment of diffusion capacity and apparent respiratory insufficiency. Bronchoalveolar lavage and histological examinations of transbronchial lung biopsies revealed alveolar proteinosis. Because of the presence of anti-granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) autoantibodies, a primary form of this disorder was diagnosed. Therapeutic whole-lung lavage was performed twice and resulted in a continuing remission.