Pulmonary Interstitial Changes Following Bone Marrow Transplantation

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Abstract
Observations of 20 consecutive bone marrow transplantation recipients disclosed 2 disinctive categories of pulmonary interstitial changes. Interstitial infiltrates occurring less than 14 days after transplantation were observed in 13 of 20 patients and may represent pulmonary edema. A late pulmonary interstitial process, which appears more than 30 days following transplantation (median 57 days), was encountered in 10 of 14 patients with successful grafts; the late changes represent interstitial pneumonia, a common cause of morbidity and mortality following bone marrow transplantation. It is probably attributable to a combination of factors including the preparatory chemotherapy and radiotherapy and delayed immunologic reconstitution following transplantation.