Objective To investigate the etiology and the clinical features of obliterative bronchiolitis (OB). Methods Sixteen admitted patients were diagnosed as OB in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from Jan 1990 to May 2018. The case records were reviewed retrospectively. Results Twelve patients were female and 4 patients were male. The median age was 33.5 years (ranged from 17 to 55). The common symptoms included: exertional dyspnea in 15 patients (94%), cough in 10 patients (63%), phlegm production in 8 patients (50%). All of the 16 patients had associated conditions: paraneoplastic pemphigus in 6 patients (Castleman’s disease, lymphoproliferative disorder, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor and follicular dendritic cell tumor respectively), chronic graft-versus-host disease after hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation in 3 patients, thymoma in 2 patients, Behcet’s disease, Sjögren syndrome, multiple myeloma, myasthenia gravis, and oral lichen planus in 1 patient respectively. The pulmonary function tests revealed severe or very severe obstructive ventilatory defect in all 16 patients. The CT scans showed slight ground-glass opacities in 10 patients, decreased attenuation of lung in 9 patients, mosaic attenuation in 8 patients, bronchiectasis in 7 patients, and air trapping in 3 patients. Conclusions OB is a clinical syndrome characterized by progressive airway obstruction, resulting from a variety of exposures or diseases. In most cases, diagnosis can be obtained on the basis of typical clinical, physiological, and radiological features, combined with OB-related diseases or exposures. Surgical lung biopsy can help diagnosis but risk-benefit should be taken into consideration seriously.