[Autopsy cases of cytomegalovirus interstitial pneumonitis following bone marrow transplantation]

We investigated the relevance of cytomegalovirus (CMV) to interstitial pneumonitis (IP) using formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded lung tissues obtained from 12 autopsy cases who died following bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from May 1985 to March in 1992. The lung tissues were examined by hematoxylin and eosin (H.E.) staining, immunohistochemistry with monoclonal antibodies (DDG9, CCH2) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for amplifying human CMV DNA. Eight of 12 cases were clinically diagnosed as IP. The 4 cases showed no signs of IP, and their tissues were used as controls. H.E. staining revealed inclusion bodies in two of the eight and only severe fibrosis in the other six. In 4 of the 6 cases, however, CMV was identified by immunohistochemistry or PCR. We concluded that the relevance of CMV in the genesis of IP is often overlooked by H.E. staining alone. Immunohistochemistry and PCR are useful in examining tissues which are suspected of CMV-IP.