Organizing pneumonia related to common variable immunodeficiency

A 68-year-old woman suffering from common variable immunodeficiency (CVI) d eveloped a typical picture of organizing pneumonia. Causative factors other than CVI were eliminated. Several antibiotic regimens failed to improve th e patient's condition, while the clinical manifestations rapidly disappeare d under steroid therapy, with complete radiological recovery, but relapsed after steroid withdrawal. Finally, organizing pneumonia was definitely demo nstrated by pathological findings obtained by open lung biopsy. Interesting ly, pathological examination exhibited two other well-known CVI-associated lesions, i.e. benign lymphoid hyperplasia and non-caseating granuloma. In v iew of reports in the literature, we speculate that these different histolo gical patterns could have resulted in a spectrum of symptomatic CVI-associa ted pulmonary disorders that improved under steroid therapy. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.