Fatal re-expansion pulmonary edema associated with increased lung IL-8 levels following high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant.

Re-expansion pulmonary edema (REPE) leading to hypoxic respiratory failure and death occurred following a unilateral low-volume (750 ml) thoracentesis in a young patient 8 days after high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDC/ASCT) for advanced-stage breast cancer. A higher volume (1,000 ml) thoracentesis from the contralateral lung, 2 weeks prior to HDC/ASCT, showed no clinical consequences. We have recently demonstrated increased levels of inflammatory cytokines in the lungs of patients following HDC/ASCT, a finding which may predispose them to exaggerated inflammatory lung injury. In postmortem analysis, this patient's lung demonstrated substantial intra-alveolar edema and marked elevation in interleukin-8, detected by immunohistochemistry. This suggests that patients who have recently undergone HDC/ASCT may be at increased risk for the development of REPE following thoracentesis.

Duke Scholars

Author Stavros Garantziotis Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine

Author Gwynn Douglas Long Medicine, Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy