Chest computed tomography findings in severe influenza pneumonia occurring in neutropenic cancer patients

• Autor(a) principal: Rodrigues, Rosana Souza
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: Marchiori, Edson, Bozza, Fernando A., Pitrowsky, Melissa Tassano, Velasco, Eduardo, Soares, Márcio, Salluh, Jorge I. F.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Clinics
• Texto Completo: https://www.revistas.usp.br/clinics/article/view/19641
• topic: H1N1; Viral pneumonia; Neutropenia; Cancer; Computed tomography

OBJECTIVE: To describe the chest computed tomography findings for severe influenza H1N1 infection in a series of hospitalized neutropenic cancer patients. METHODS: We performed a retrospective systematic analysis of chest computed tomography scans for eight hospitalized patients with fever, neutropenia, and confirmed diagnoses of influenza H1N1. The clinical data had been prospectively collected. RESULTS: Six of eight patients (75%) developed respiratory failure and required intensive care. Prolonged H1N1 shedding was observed in the three mechanically ventilated patients, and overall hospital mortality in our series was 25%. The most frequent computed tomography findings were ground-glass opacity (all patients), consolidation (7/8 cases), and airspace nodules (6/8 cases) that were frequently moderate or severe. Other parenchymal findings were not common. Five patients had features of pneumonia, two had computed tomography findings compatible with bronchitis and/or bronchiolitis, and one had tomographic signs of chronicity. CONCLUSION: In this series of neutropenic patients with severe influenza H1N1 infection, chest computed tomography demonstrated mainly moderate or severe parenchymatous disease, but bronchiolitis was not a common feature. These findings associated with febrile neutropenia should elicit a diagnosis of severe viral infection.