Pulmonary insults due to transfusions, radiation, and hyperoxia

Pulmonary insults caused by transfusion, radiation, and hyperoxia share many clinical features with insults caused by serious pulmonary infections. The major objective in evaluating these patients is to establish the diagnosis with as much certainty as possible. Unfortunately, there are no clinical aspects or laboratory tests that are pathognomonic for these diseases; therefore, it is often necessary to rely on a knowledge of those features which help to distinguish these disorders from infectious etiologies. For example, patients suffering from transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) experience onset of insult within 6 hours of a transfusion and have the presence of leukoagglutinins in their serum. Patients with radiation injuries frequently have roentgenographic infiltrates that conform to the ports of radiation. Despite extensive animal and human studies, factors distinguishing hyperoxic injury from infectious disorders remain poorly defined. These clinical features and others are reviewed to identify the essential components in the diagnosis of TRALI, acute radiation pneumonitis, and hyperoxic pneumonitis.