[Pulmonary disease during mtx therapy in a.l.l. (author's transl)]

Authors describe three cases of pulmonary disease showed in three children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia during maintenance therapy with Methotrexate (MTX) (Dose: 30 mg/sm/W). The initial symptom occurs in the lapse between 40 and 135 days within the first MTX maintenance period and in 35 days in the second maintenance period. Leukopenia with eosinophilia (192-264 eosinophils/mm3) occurs in case 1. The maintenance of the MTX therapy in this case ends with death of the patient. Radiological studies show basal bilateral pulmonary infiltrations, with pleural involvement in one case. Authors insist in the drug (MTX) suppression as main therapy and agree with the opinion of some authors concerning to the 31 cases previously published.