Interstitial pneumonitis in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation: a report from the Japanese BMT Study Group

One hundred and four patients with acute leukemia treated by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in Japan were analysed for the incidence of interstitial pneumonitis (IP). Thirty-six (35%) of 104 marrow graft recipients developed IP. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) was the most frequent organism (61%). Using multivariate analysis, remission at transplant (P = 0.0001) and use of cyclosporin A to prevent graft-versus-host disease (P = 0.0363) were found to be significant factors associated with a decreased incidence of IP. For preventing IP, anti-CMV hyperimmune globulin was effective, while interferon and acyclovir were not.