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Subclasses of immunoglobulin G (IgG) were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and serum from five normal volunteers and 25 bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients, who developed 32 episodes of pneumonitis. Evidence for local production of the four subclasses was sought, to assess whether any observed deficiency was associated with any particular group of pulmonary infections. In the normal volunteers, IgG1 and IgG4 could be detected in BAL fluid from all subjects, with evidence for local production of IgG1 in one, and IgG4 in all five. IgG2 could be detected in BAL fluid from one subject, but IgG3 was undetectable in all normal BAL fluid. The BMT recipients differed from the normal volunteers mainly in the presence of IgG2 and IgG3 in BAL fluid. Furthermore, IgG4 could not be detected in BAL from seven. Furthermore, IgG4 could not be detected in BAL from seven episodes of pneumonitis (six patients). Bacteria, protozoa or fungi alone were isolated from five of these seven lavages, whereas pneumonitis associated with these organisms alone only occurred in 9 of the remaining 25 episodes of pneumonitis (19 patients) where there was also evidence for local production of IgG4. Moreover, 4 out of 7 patients with no detectable IgG4 in lavage developed secondary infections, whilst only 5 out of 19 patients producing IgG4 locally developed secondary infections (p = 0.05). Although there was individual variation within each group, levels of local production of both IgG1 and IgG4 tended, however, to be higher in patients who died from pneumonitis than in those who recovered, suggesting that this may be a poor prognostic marker.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Of 143 consecutive patients who survived at least 6 months after bone marrow transplantation (allogeneic [n = 131]; syngeneic [n = 5]; or autologous [n = 7]) and whose pulmonary function was evaluated before and on at least 2 occasions after BMT, 29 (20%) developed a chronic pulmonary syndrome without evidence for an infectious etiology. Twenty-eight (97%) presented with cough and 22 (76%) with dyspnea; abnormal chest signs were crackles in 23 (79%) and wheeze in 22 (76%). Chest roentgenogram showed pulmonary infiltrates in 15 (52%) cases but was normal in 14 (48%). All patients had major reductions in lung volumes (forced expiratory volume in 1 sec [FEV1]; relaxed vital capacity [VC]; and alveolar volume [VA]), and/or diffusing capacity (pulmonary diffusing capacity [TLCO] and single-breath carbon monoxide coefficient [KCO]). The obstructive component varied with only 18 (62%) patients developing overt airways obstruction (FEV1/VC < 75%), and in 6 of this group the fall in lung volumes preceded the onset of airways obstruction. Open lung biopsy (n = 4) showed both bronchiolitis obliterans and chronic patchy interstitial pneumonitis. The development of this syndrome was associated with acute (P < 0.001) and chronic (P < 0.0001) graft-versus-host disease of other organ systems. Twenty-four (83%) patients had a partial or complete response to immunosuppressive agents. Six (21%) have died, five (17%) of pulmonary complications. We suggest that this syndrome may be a manifestation of chronic GVHD involvement of the lung.

Pneumonia occurs in up to 50% of patients after bone marrow transplant and is the main cause of mortality. The patient may be predisposed to pulmonary complications by previous treatment and infections, by transplant conditioning and graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis regimens, and by prolonged severe immune-suppression. The period of greatest risk is within 3 months of transplant when focal or diffuse interstitial pneumonias may occur. The most common infectious etiologies are Aspergillus or other fungi and cytomegalovirus. Idiopathic, noninfectious, interstitial pneumonia occurring in this same period may represent treatment toxicity. Both fungal and cytomegalovirus infections have been associated with high mortality, but there has been significant success in treating cytomegalovirus with the combination of ganciclovir and immunoglobulin in recent years. Late bacterial pneumonia may occur more than 6 months after transplant because of prolonged immunedeficiency and functional asplenia. Prophylactic therapy to prevent the pneumonias anticipated after transplant should be an essential part of the care of the bone marrow transplant patient.

A 21-year-old patient developed interstitial pneumonitis nine months post bone marrow transplant for acute myeloblastic leukaemia. Immunofluorescence of broncheoalveolar lavage fluid revealed the presence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Aerosolized ribavarin therapy resulted in rapid resolution of the pneumonitis with full recovery without any side effects. Ribavarin therapy should be considered early in the management of BMT patients who develop RSV pneumonitis.

A 22-year-old man with T cell type acute lymphoblastic leukemia in first remission underwent autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The preparative regimen included cytosine arabinoside, cyclophosphamide and fractionated total body irradiation. His harvested bone marrow cells were purged with 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide. His serological test was positive for cytomegalovirus (CMV) before the BMT. On day 53 after the BMT, he developed dry cough and his chest X-ray film showed bilateral basilar infiltration. Bronchoalveolar lavage was performed and cytology of the specimen revealed typical cytomegaloviral inclusion bodies. DNA analysis and viral culture of the specimen were also positive for CMV. The patient was started on ganciclovir and immunoglobulin with high dose methylprednisolone. His respiratory status deteriorated, however, and the patient expired because of respiratory failure. Autopsy revealed severe interstitial pneumonitis with suppression of CMV replication from the treatment. Interstitial pneumonitis due to CMV should be considered as a significant complication of autologous BMT.

The morbidity and mortality rates of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections, including pneumonitis in bone marrow transplant patients, are well documented and yet no rapid, sensitive diagnostic tool is available. To test the polymerase chain reaction as such a diagnostic tool, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded open lung biopsy material was selected from post-bone marrow transplant patients in whom pulmonary parenchymal changes were evident but viral inclusions were not seen. As a control, other immunosuppressed (non-bone marrow transplant) patients and low-risk nonimmunosuppressed patients were studied in a similar manner. Viral culture results and clinical data were available on all the high-risk patients. Two of 15 high-risk patients were found to have amplifiable CMV DNA despite the lack of histologic viral inclusions. One of these patients had been treated recently for CMV pneumonia, and the other had a positive culture of the lung specimens for CMV 13 days after biopsy. None of 12 control patients had amplifiable CMV DNA. These data indicate that the polymerase chain reaction is more sensitive than histologic examination and at least as sensitive as viral culture without evidence of false-positive results.

For diagnosis of the interstitial pneumonia conditioned by cytomegalovirus (CMV) an indirect immunofluorescence test was used to measure IgM and IgG antibodies to CMV in 369 serum specimens from 41 patients after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). An interstitial pneumonia conditioned by CMV was diagnosed in 5 patients either serological (4 patients) or by detection of cytomegaloviral infection typical inclusion bodies in lung cells (1 patient). The detection of antibodies to CMV for diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia conditioned by CMV is problematical in the phase immediately after BMT because bone marrow recipients are severely immunosuppressed by radiation and cytotoxic drugs received before transplantation. New method for detection of CMV-specific antigens are necessary.

Forty episodes of pneumonitis in 30 recipients of allogeneic bone marrow transplants were investigated by fibreoptic bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage. A positive diagnosis was made in 32 episodes of pneumonitis (24 patients), giving a diagnostic yield of 80%. In 31 of these the diagnosis was made within 24 hours of bronchoscopy and this enabled the appropriate treatment to be instituted early. Eighteen patients recovered from their primary infection, although two died subsequently of respiratory failure due to postpneumonic lung destruction. Ten patients later developed a second episode of pneumonitis and a diagnosis was made in nine of these. Only three survived a second episode. Bronchoalveolar lavage was well tolerated by all patients and there was no morbidity or mortality that could be directly attributed to the procedure. Bronchoalveolar lavage is a safe and valuable early diagnostic procedure for the investigation of pulmonary complications in patients who have received bone marrow transplants.

Thirty-three of 85 patients undergoing marrow transplantation between 1969 and 1973 developed interstitial pneumonia; 23 died. The clinical syndrome consisted of tachypnea, cough, fever, rales, and hypoxemia; the radiologic findings were variable. The development of interstitial pneumonia was significantly associated with graft-versus-host disease and allogenic grafting; patients with isogenic grafts were relatively spared. The increased attack rate between 1969-71 (20%) and 1972-73 (49%) was not fully explained by improved long-term survival, by an increased proportion of allogenic transplants, or by an increased incidence of graft-versus-host disease. Intranuclear inclusions typical of cytomegalovirus were identified in 9 of 17 autopsy-confirmed cases, and patients whose marrow donors had positive cytomegalovirus antibody titers developed interstitial pneumonia more often than patients whose donor had negative titers. Interstitial pneumonia is an important cause of morbidity and mortality after human marrow transplantation. No effective treatment is presently available.

Study Objective: To assess the efficacy of the combination of the antiviral agent ganciclovir (9-1,3 dihydroxy-2-propoxymethylguanine) and high-dose intravenous immune globulin for treating cytomegalovirus interstitial pneumonitis after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation., Design: Nonrandomized prospective trial of combined treatment with two drugs; findings in these patients were compared with those in control patients treated with either of the two drugs alone., Setting: Medical, pediatric, and intensive care units of a tertiary-care cancer treatment center., Patients: Consecutive cases of 10 patients in the study group and of 11 patients in a historical control group with evidence of cytomegalovirus pneumonia after bone marrow transplantation for treatment of leukemia or congenital immune deficiency., Interventions: Study Group (10 patients): ganciclovir, 2.5 mg/kg body weight, three times daily for 20 days, plus intravenous immune globulin, 500 mg/kg every other day for ten doses. Patients were then given ganciclovir, 5 mg/kg.d three to five times a week for 20 more doses, and intravenous immune globulin, 500 mg/kg twice a week for 8 more doses. Control Group (11 patients): ganciclovir alone (2 patients), 5 mg/kg twice a day for 14 to 21 days; cytomegalovirus hyperimmune globulin (5 patients), 400 mg/kg.d for 10 days; and intravenous immune globulin (4 patients), 400 mg/kg.d for 10 days., Measurements and Main Results: Responses were observed in all patients treated with combination therapy; 7 of 10 patients were alive and well, and had no recurrence of disease at a median of 10 months after therapy. No therapeutic benefit was observed, and none of the 11 patients treated with either ganciclovir or intravenous immune globulin alone survived (P = 0.001 by Fisher exact test)., Conclusions: Ganciclovir, when combined with high-dose intravenous immune globulin, appears to have significantly altered the outcome of patients with cytomegalovirus pneumonia after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

Study Objective: To determine if the combination of ganciclovir and intravenous cytomegalovirus immunoglobulin is effective in patients with cytomegalovirus pneumonia after bone marrow transplant., Design: Consecutive entry trial with treatment for a minimum of 14 days., Patients: Consecutive sample of 25 patients with bone marrow transplants and cytomegalovirus pneumonia after transplant proven by open lung biopsy or bronchoalveolar lavage. Patients with abnormal renal function or concomitant infectious causes of pneumonia, or who were respirator-dependent at diagnosis, were not eligible., Interventions: Induction treatment consisted of ganciclovir, 2.5 mg/kg body weight every 8 hours for 14 days, and cytomegalovirus immunoglobulin, 400 mg/kg on days 1, 2, and 7 and 200 mg/kg on day 14. Ganciclovir dosage was adjusted for renal function. Patients who were improved but still symptomatic after 14 days were given maintenance treatment consisting of ganciclovir, 5 mg/kg once daily for an additional 14 days, and immunoglobulin, 200 mg/kg on day 21. Patients with clinical deterioration continued to receive induction doses. Ganciclovir therapy was discontinued if the neutrophil count fell below 500 X 10(6)/L for 2 consecutive days., Measurement and Main Results: Serial tests of renal and liver function, blood counts, and viral cultures of blood, throat, and urine were obtained 3 times a week. Thirteen of twenty-five (52%) patients (95% CI, 31 to 72) survived the initial episode of pneumonia. Viral excretion ceased in 17 of 23 (74%) patients treated more than 96 hours. Proven recurrences of pneumonia occurred in 3 patients and possible recurrences in 2 after treatment was stopped. Three patients developed neutropenia during induction therapy and 6 patients during maintenance therapy., Conclusions: Survival of 13 (52%) of 25 patients from the initial episode of cytomegalovirus pneumonia with the regimen of ganciclovir and cytomegalovirus immunoglobulin is significantly better (P less than 0.001) than the survival of 13 of 89 (15%) patients using previous antiviral regimens.

Interstitial pneumonia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality following allogeneic marrow transplantation for hematologic malignancy. In this prospective randomized study, 22 of 40 patients received prophylactic adenine arabinoside (Ara-A) at a dose of 5 mg/kg/day administered intravenously on an intermittent schedule. Thirteen episodes of interstitial pneumonia occurred among treated patients, including three cases associated with cytomegalovirus (CMV) in the lung. Ten episodes of interstitial pneumonia were seen in the untreated group, with CMV cultured from five. Surveillance viral cultures were positive from 18 different sites in 12 treated patients compared to 10 sites from 7 patients in the untreated group. No significant toxicity from Ara-A was encountered, and no difference in overall survival between the two groups was detected. Ara-A did not reduce the frequency of interstitial pneumonia or viral isolation from routine cultures.