Acute lung injury following the use of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a hematopoietic growth factor with immunostimulatory effects that include the activation and priming of neutrophils. Neutrophils are an important part of the human immune system, yet they have been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury (ALI). GM-CSF has been found to increase the amount of activated neutrophils recruited to the lung tissue as well as to increase the life span of neutrophils leading to substantial lung tissue injury and the development of ALI. While, there have been few cases reported of ALI following GM-CSF, the experience reported here is the first of ALI subsequent to local administration of GM-CSF in a patient with significant pulmonary comorbidities.