Leukemic pulmonary infiltrates in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: Clinical and imaging features

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common type of leukemia in Western countries. Although various patterns of lung involvement with CLL have been reported, data on clinicoradiologic presentation are sparse.

A computer-assisted search was conducted to identify patients encountered at Mayo Clinic from 1998 to 2022 and had leukemic pulmonary infiltrates (LPI) with CLL demonstrated on lung biopsy. Medical records and chest imaging studies were reviewed to identify clinical and radiologic features.

Among 13 patients, median age was 77 years (range: 60-88) and included 10 men (77 %). All patients were known to have CLL with a median duration of 96 months (range: 50-408), and none were on treatment. Most common symptoms were dyspnea (62 %), cough (54 %), and fatigue (46 %); 2 patients (15 %) were asymptomatic. Dominant abnormality on CT consisted of single or multiple nodular/mass-like opacities in 10 patients (77 %), while diffuse centrilobular nodules, pleural mass, and diffuse bronchial wall thickening were each seen in one patient, respectively; intrathoracic lymphadenopathy was present in all. After diagnosis of LPI, treatment for CLL was administered to 7 patients (54 %); 6 patients (86 %) exhibited improvement. During follow-up (median 41 months), 8 (62 %) patients died. Causes of death included progressive CLL or treatment-related complications (2 patients), pneumonia (1 patient), unrelated causes (3 patients), and unknown in 2 patients.

LPI in CLL is generally encountered in patients with known untreated CLL. The main imaging feature is single mass-like opacity or multiple nodular/mass-like opacities, associated with intrathoracic lymphadenopathy.