Korean J Radiol.  2023 Apr;24(4):362-370. 10.3348/kjr.2022.0844.

Migratory Pneumonia in Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Patients Treated With B-cell Depletion Therapies for B-cell Lymphoma

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
  • 2Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
  • 3Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
  • 4Department of Hematology, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Abstract


Objective
To report the clinical and radiological characteristics of patients with underlying B-cell lymphoma and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) showing migratory airspace opacities on serial chest computed tomography (CT) with persistent COVID-19 symptoms.
Materials and Methods
From January 2020 to June 2022, of the 56 patients with underlying hematologic malignancy who had undergone chest CT more than once at our hospital after acquiring COVID-19, seven adult patients (5 female; age range, 37–71 years; median age, 45 years) who showed migratory airspace opacities on chest CT were selected for the analysis of clinical and CT features.
Results
All patients had been diagnosed with B-cell lymphoma (three diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and four follicular lymphoma) and had received B-cell depleting chemotherapy, including rituximab, within three months prior to COVID-19 diagnosis. The patients underwent a median of 3 CT scans during the follow-up period (median 124 days). All patients showed multifocal patchy peripheral ground glass opacities (GGOs) with basal predominance in the baseline CTs. In all patients, followup CTs demonstrated clearing of previous airspace opacities with the development of new peripheral and peribronchial GGO and consolidation in different locations. Throughout the follow-up period, all patients demonstrated prolonged COVID-19 symptoms accompanied by positive polymerase chain reaction results from nasopharyngeal swabs, with cycle threshold values of less than 25.
Conclusion
COVID-19 patients with B-cell lymphoma who had received B-cell depleting therapy and are experiencing prolonged SARS-CoV-2 infection and persistent symptoms may demonstrate migratory airspace opacities on serial CT, which could be interpreted as ongoing COVID-19 pneumonia.

Keyword

Coronavirus disease 2019; Computed tomography; Lymphoma; SARS-CoV-2; Rituximab; B-cell depletion
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