Chest
Volume 80, Issue 2, August 1981, Pages 123-126
Journal home page for Chest

Clinical Investigations
Usual Interstitial Pneumonia Following Texas A2 Influenza Infection

https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.80.2.123Get rights and content

In two patients a documented Texas A2 influenza infection was associated with the development of interstitial pulmonary disease. One patient had an acute fulminating process resulting in respiratory failure and necessitating ventilatory assistance. Open lung biopsy revealed a histologic picture consistent with usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). The other patient had a subacute course, and the pulmonary histology showed UIP with features of desquamative interstitial pneumonia. The influenza virus may have had an etiologic role in the development of the interstitial lung disease in our two patients.

Section snippets

CASE 1

A 63-year-old nonsmoking man was admitted to the intensive care unit with a flu-like syndrome for one week’s duration. Chest roentgenogram obtained one week before admission was normal, and past medical history was noncontributory.

Physical examination on admission revealed cyanosis and resting dyspnea. Blood pressure was 110/60 mm Hg, pulse, 110 and regular; respiratory rate, 24; temperature, 39°C; and examination of the chest showed diffuse rales. Arterial blood gas levels (FIo2, 0.3 by

COMMENTS

Despite many studies documenting pulmonary damage secondary to acute influenza infection, few data are available on the long-term pulmonary parenchymal changes caused by this agent. In one of the more recent studies, Laraya-Cuassay et al7 described interstitial lung disease in biopsy specimens taken from three children, aged 5, 24, and 42 months, at 50, 166, and 51 days after the onset of the influenza pneumonia. Pathologic findings included a variable degree of bronchial and bronchiolar

REFERENCES (13)

  • RL Noble et al.

    Fatal diffuse influenza pneumonia: premortem diagnosis by lung biopsy.

    Chest

    (1973)
  • AA Liebow et al.

    Desquamative interstitial pneumonia.

    Am J Med

    (1965)
  • DB Louria et al.

    Studies on influenza in the pandemic of 1957-1958: II. Pulmonary complications of influenza.

    J Clin Invest

    (1959)
  • CB Wilson et al.

    Goodpasture’s syndrome associated with influenza A2 virus infection.

    Ann Intern Med

    (1972)
  • R Oseasohn et al.

    Clinicopathologic study of thirty-three fatal cases of Asian influenza.

    N Engl J Med

    (1959)
  • MI Lindsay et al.

    Hong Kong influenza: clinical microbiologic, and pathologic features in 127 cases.

    JAMA

    (1970)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (30)

  • GM-CSF modulates pulmonary resistance to influenza A infection

    2011, Antiviral Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    DIP reflects accumulation of activated macrophages (Tazelaar et al., 2011). Earlier clinical reports documented a spectrum of interstitial lung diseases, including DIP, following influenza pneumonia in humans (Pinsker et al., 1981). Development of DIP was also observed after acute infection of SP-C-GM+/+ mice with Mycobacterium bovis BCG (Szeliga et al., 2008) and S. aureus (Chroneos, unpublished data).

  • Complications of Viral Influenza

    2008, American Journal of Medicine
    Citation Excerpt :

    Six cases of invasive aspergillosis have been reported, all in immunocompetent persons, with 5 deaths. Noninfectious mimics of infection that may be incited by influenza include bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia,39 usual interstitial pneumonia,40 and transient Goodpasture’s syndrome.41 Influenza-related bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia has been described in lung transplant recipients and was associated with allograft rejection.

View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text