ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Acute Respiratory Illness in Immunocompromised Patients

Publication date: November 2019Source: Journal of the American College of Radiology, Volume 16, Issue 11, SupplementAuthor(s): Expert Panel on Thoracic Imaging, Christopher Lee, Patrick M. Colletti, Jonathan H. Chung, Jeanne B. Ackman, Mark F. Berry, Brett W. Carter, Patricia M. de Groot, Stephen B. Hobbs, Geoffrey B. Johnson, Fabien Maldonado, Barbara L. McComb, Betty C. Tong, Christopher M. Walker, Jeffrey P. KanneAbstractThe immunocompromised patient with an acute respiratory illness (ARI) may present with fever, chills, weight loss, cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain. The number of immunocompromised patients continues to rise with medical advances including solid organ and stem cell transplantation, chemotherapy, and immunomodulatory therapy, along with the continued presence of human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Given the myriad of pathogens that can infect immunocompromised individuals, identifying the specific organism or organisms causing the lung disease can be elusive. Moreover, immunocompromised patients often receive prophylactic or empiric antimicrobial therapy, further complicating diagnostic evaluation. Noninfectious causes for ARI should also be considered, including pulmonary edema, drug-induced lung disease, atelectasis, malignancy, radiation-induced lung disease, pulmonary hemorrhage, diffuse alveolar damage, organizing pneumonia, lung transplant rejection, and pulmonary thromboembolic disease. As many immunocomprom...
Source: Journal of the American College of Radiology - Category: Radiology Source Type: research