TITLE:
Thoracic Air Leak Syndrome: A Rare and Fatal Complication of Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant
AUTHORS:
Abdullah Sakkat, Matthew Patel, Shariq Haider
KEYWORDS:
Thoracic Air Leak Syndrome, Pneumomediastinum, Bronchiolitis Obliterans, Graft Versus Host Disease, Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant
JOURNAL NAME:
Case Reports in Clinical Medicine,
Vol.9 No.4,
April
2,
2020
ABSTRACT: Thoracic air leak syndrome (TALS) is a rare complication of allogeneic stem cell transplant (Allo-SCT) and is associated with a poor prognosis. We report a case of a 67-year-old male, after 20 months of Allo-SCT for acute myeloid leukemia, who presented with fever and acute worsening dyspnea on a background of a 4-month history of slowly progressive dyspnea. He was initially diagnosed with parainfluenza pneumonia and later developed TALS as a result of bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) caused by chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). Herein, we highlight the importance of early recognition and treatment of non-infectious pulmonary complications of Allo-SCT.