title: Acute respiratory distress syndrome due to tuberculosis in a child after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: We report the occurrence of tuberculosis in a 10-year-old Taiwanese boy, approximately 4 months after he received a matched-related bone marrow transplantation from his sister for acute T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia. After transplantation, grade III acute graft-versus-host disease developed and the patient was treated with prednisolone and cyclosporine. Marrow failure was noted on day 77 post-transplantation, however, after an episode of herpes zoster infection. Interstitial pneumonia, diagnosed on the basis of chest x-ray and computed tomography findings, occurred on day 120. Histologic examination of an open-lung biopsy specimen showed caseating granulomas and a few acid-fast bacilli. The patient died of acute respiratory distress syndrome, despite immediate implementation of antituberculosis therapy. Sputum cultures grew Mycobacterium tuberculosis 5 weeks later. This report demonstrates that the possibility of tuberculosis needs to be considered in immunocompromised patients, and that appropriate prophylaxis should be instituted in areas where tuberculosis is endemic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000628:therapy*; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000209:etiology*