Characteristics and Follow-Up of Organizing Pneumonia Associated with Haematological Malignancies

Organizing pneumonia (OP) is a secondary process in many diseases. Due to its low incidence and indistinct symptoms, there is limited information on OP associated with haematological malignancies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to discuss the characteristics and prognosis of OP associated with haematological malignancies.

We observed and analysed pathologically confirmed OP cases associated with haematological malignancies in a hospital record database and excluded cases of OP with known causes, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, transplantation and infection.

There were five patients with OP underlying only haematological malignancies, including one case each of the following: myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myelogenous leukaemia, multiple myeloma, aplastic anaemia, and T cell lymphoma. Radiological findings did not show a distinct pattern, and two cases mimicked pulmonary aspergillosis with ground-glass opacity (GGO). The diagnosis of OP was confirmed by minimal invasive biopsy. Although all patients developed severe cases, steroids yielded favourable outcomes.

This study demonstrates that haematological malignancies may be a cause of OP and that minimal invasive biopsy may be an effective and safe method to confirm the diagnosis. Although OP associated with haematological malignancies may more frequently develop into severe cases, the OP lesions were steroid-responsive during follow-up.