Supportive care in bone marrow transplantation: pulmonary complications

Incidence, etiology, and outcome of pleural effusions in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Pleural effusion is a known entity in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT); however, the incidence, risk factors, and morbidity-mortality outcomes associated with pleural effusions remain unknown. We retrospectively evaluated pleural effusions in 618 consecutive adult patients who underwent allogeneic HSCT from January 2008 to December 2013 at our institution. Seventy one patients developed pleural effusion at a median of 40 days (range, 1 - 869) post-HSCT with the cumulative incidence of 9.9% (95% CI, 7.7 - 12.5%) at 1 year. Infectious etiology was commonly associated with pleural effusions followed by volume overload and serositis type chronic GVHD. In multivariate analysis, higher comorbidity index (P = 0.03) and active GVHD (P = 0.018) were found to be significant independent predictors for pleural effusion development. Higher comorbidity index, very high disease risk index, ≤7/8 HLA matching, and unrelated donor were associated with inferior overall survival (OS) (P < 0.03). More importantly, patients with pleural effusion were noted to have poor OS in comparison to patients without pleural effusion (P < 0.001). Overall, pleural effusion is a frequently occurring complication after allogeneic HSCT, adding to morbidity and mortality and hence, early identification is required. Am. J. Hematol. 91:E341-E347, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The spectrum of noninfectious pulmonary complications following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an established treatment for a variety of malignant and nonmalignant conditions. Pulmonary complications, infectious and noninfectious, are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients. The recent advances in prophylaxis and treatment of infectious complications increased the significance of noninfectious pulmonary conditions. Acute lung injury due to diffuse alveolar hemorrhage or idiopathic pneumonia syndrome are the main acute complications, while bronchiolitis obliterans remains the most challenging pulmonary complications facing clinicians who are taking care of HSCT recipients. There are other noninfectious pulmonary complications following HSCT that are less frequent. This report provides a clinical update of the incidence, risk factors, pathogenesis, clinical characteristics and management of the main noninfectious pulmonary complications following HSCT.

Pulmonary complications in bone marrow transplantation: a practical approach to diagnosis and treatment

Pulmonary complications occur in 40% to 60% of recipients of bone marrow trans-plants, account for more than 90% of mortality, and develop during identifiable phases. Phase 1 (Days 1-30) includes pulmonary edema; diffuse alveolar hemorrhage; and various bacterial, fungal, and viral infections; Phase 2 (Days 31-100) usually requires a distinction between cytomegalovirus pneumonitis and idiopathic pneumonia syndrome; and Phase 3 (Day 100+) includes complications that are due to chronic graft-versus-host disease and associated bronchiolitis obliterans. The spectrum of pulmonary complications has been influenced by changes in transplantation technique, prophylactic treatment for infections, and the use of new chemotherapeutic agents that contribute to lung injury. Nonetheless, infections remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The most serious complications result in respiratory failure, for which the prognosis has not improved significantly over the last 2 decades. In this article, we describe our algorithmic approach to the diagnosis and management of these complications.

Flexible bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of pulmonary infiltrates following autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation for advanced breast cancer

Flexible bronchoscopy is an important tool in the diagnosis of pulmonary complications following bone marrow transplantation. However, the value of this procedure in autologous peripheral stem cell transplant (APSCT) recipients with pulmonary complications is not well defined. We retrospectively evaluated the diagnostic yield of 27 consecutive bronchoscopies done on 23 APSCT recipients following high-dose chemotherapy for breast cancer. FB resulted in a positive diagnosis in 16 cases (59%). Broncheoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed on all patients, and transbronchial biopsies (TBB) were carried out in 14. TBB were diagnostic in 10 (71%), with pulmonary drug toxicity as the most common finding (n = 8), followed by metastatic breast cancer (n = 2). BAL was diagnostic in six (22%): bacterial pneumonia (n = 3), aspergillosis (n = 2), Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (n = 1) and Influenza B (n = 1). The procedure was well tolerated with no major complications except a small pneumothorax in one patient that did not require chest tube insertion. In conclusion, flexible bronchoscopy is a useful tool in the evaluation of pulmonary complications following APSCT for breast cancer. TBB can be done safely with relatively high diagnostic yield. Pulmonary drug toxicity is the most common pathological finding.

Infections in recipients of blood and marrow transplantation

The approach to infections in blood and marrow transplant (BMT) recipients involves an understanding of clinical infection syndromes and the natural history of individual infections, taken in the context of patterns of immunosuppression after transplantation and mechanisms underlying immune system reconstitution over time. The conditioning regimen used to prepare the host is a major determinant of host tissue injury and may lead to mucositis or diarrhea, facilitating transmucosal origin of bloodstream infections. Infectious risk also differs between autologous and allogeneic grafts as a consequence of ongoing immunosuppression from graft-versus-host disease and its therapy. Post-transplant complications may mimic infectious processes, and multiple infections may occur in one patient at the same time. Thus, the BMT patient with suspected infection should be evaluated in the context of pretransplant exposure history (infectious disease serologies), conditioning regimen, available culture data from nonsterile mucosal surfaces, previous and recent infections, contemporary transplant complications, and the current degree and duration of neutropenia, cellular immunodeficiency, and hypogammaglobulinemia.