Plasma cell leukemia presenting as organizing pneumonia refractory to high-dose steroid therapy

South Med J. 2010 Jul;103(7):706-10. doi: 10.1097/SMJ.0b013e3181e206da.

Abstract

A case of steroid-refractory organizing pneumonia (OP) as the initial presentation of plasma cell leukemia (PCL) in a patient who had no prior exposure to chemotherapy or radiation is described. Since OP is traditionally a steroid-responsive disease, this case raises the possibility of a previously unknown patient subgroup with variable disease pattern and/or behavior in patients with plasma cell neoplasm.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia / diagnosis*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Female
  • Glucocorticoids / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Leukemia, Plasma Cell / diagnosis*
  • Leukemia, Plasma Cell / drug therapy
  • Leukemia, Plasma Cell / pathology
  • Lung / pathology
  • Middle Aged
  • Multiple Myeloma / diagnosis

Substances

  • Glucocorticoids