Concurrent treatment with a tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitor and veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a post-hematopoietic stem cell transplant patient with idiopathic pneumonia syndrome: a case report

Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS) is a fatal non-infectious respiratory complication that develops after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Because of the poor prognosis of post-HSCT patients with IPS requiring mechanical ventilatory support, performing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been regarded as relatively contraindicated in these patients. A tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitor, etanercept, has been reported to be a promising treatment option for post-HSCT patients with IPS; however, the phase III clinical trial of etanercept has recently been terminated without definitive conclusion. If post-HSCT patients with IPS really benefit from etanercept, mechanical ventilation (MV)-dependent IPS patients might be worth receiving ECMO treatment in line with the protective lung strategy. We therefore performed veno-venous ECMO (VV-ECMO), which substantially acted as an extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal, on a 56-year-old post-HSCT male with severe MV-dependent IPS due to graft-versus-host disease. Although a serious bleeding complication due to post-HSCT thrombocytopenia occurred, the VV-ECMO was continued for 11 days. The patient successfully entered remission of the IPS and was finally extubated on the 12th MV day. However, the patient soon complained of dyspnea, probably due to cytomegalovirus infection and/or exacerbation of the IPS, and was reintubated after 3 days of extubation. The patient then rapidly developed irreversible type II respiratory failure despite the administration of etanercept and an anti-cytomegalovirus agent and died on the eighth re-MV day. The autopsy findings of the patient revealed diffuse alveolar damage and alveolar hemorrhage, accompanied with bronchitis obliterans in his lungs, as well as whole body cytomegalovirus infection, which were compatible with the clinical diagnosis of the patient. We think that the legitimacy of this treatment strategy is dependent on the overall prognosis of IPS, which is influenced by the complications induced by immunosuppressants and ECMO, especially infections and bleeding. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40560-014-0048-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.